Extra £100m funding announced as police warn of cuts

The Home Office has announced an extra £100m for neighbourhood policing in England and Wales, as part of its pledge to put more officers on the ground by 2029.

It comes on top of an initial £100m announced in December, when the government made recruiting an extra 13,000 officers into neighbourhood roles one of its central pledges.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas."

However, several forces have warned that existing funding levels mean they will have to make cuts to existing officers this year.

Last year, when the first tranche of money was announced, the National Police Chiefs Council said forces faced an estimated gap of £1.3bn in their overall finances over the next two years.

On Thursday evening, Lincolnshire Police announced that it has cancelled its upcoming intake of new police officers due to financial challenges.

Earlier this week, Essex Police said it planned to make all 99 of its PCSOs (police community support officers) redundant in response to a £5.3m shortfall in its budget.

The new money announced by the Home Office is understood to come from efficiencies identified within the department.

But senior police sources have criticised the lack of detail in the government's plans and are questioning whether the money will go into plugging existing gaps rather than recruiting extra officers.

Speaking to the BBC, a senior police source said that forces had not had any details as to how they could spend the first £100m announced in December.

He asked whether the money was for new PCs or PCSOs, whether it could be used to plug existing funding gaps, and how items like uniforms and cars would be paid for.

PCSOs are paid employees but only share some of the powers that police officers have.

They can hand out fixed-penalty notices and take alcohol from a person under the age of 18, but must ask a police officer to arrest someone.

Policing Minister Dame Dianna Johnson has said the increase in funding would "allow police forces to kick start" the recruiting process.

Asked on the Today programme about forces making cuts, Dame Diana said she wouldn't "pretend it's not challenging for police forces" but overall an "extra £1.1bn was going" into policing.

The money will come alongside a major police shake-up in spring. Forces will be asked to work together more and cut waste, like merging IT systems, Dame Diana said.

"We recognise that the current way policing is structured is not the most efficient or best way of providing a police service in England and Wales," Dame Diana said.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "The warning lights are flashing across our police force, as Labour have failed to stump up the funding needed to stop massive cuts to frontline services."

The announcement of an extra £100m comes as the government publishes its final police funding settlement which provides up to £17.5bn for local police forces for the next year.

Around a third of the funding will be dependent on police and crime commissioners opting to increase council tax by £14.

The government says the settlement includes funding to support the costs of pay awards and the increase in the employer National Insurance contributions.

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