More police demanded in Reeves' spending review

Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, said compared to 2010 the force had nearly 700 fewer officers

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has called on the Chancellor to use Wednesday's Spending Review to restore the region's front-line policing numbers to "pre-austerity levels".

Compared to 2010 there were nearly 700 fewer police officers in the West Midlands, "despite rising demand and increasing complexity in the nature of crime", PCC Simon Foster said.

He called for a "fairer funding formula" in Rachel Reeves' statement that would allocate resources based on "actual demand and need" rather than "outdated metrics".

The BBC has contacted the Home Office for comment.

The Spending Review on Wednesday will see Reeves set department allocations for the next three to four years.

Reports on Monday suggested there would be an above-inflation increase for policing, but that the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, had not yet reached agreement on her department's settlement.

Mr Foster said the region had been left "short-changed for far too long" after "historic under-funding".

He added that it was "not fair and not just" that other force areas "had more officers than they had ever had in their force histories".

"It's time for the government to take this opportunity to put that right," the PCC said.

'Opportunity to invest'

He described the current funding formula as "broken and unfit for purpose".

"It fails to account for the scale of demand we face, from serious organised crime to safeguarding vulnerable people.

"This is not about more money, it is about delivering a fairer allocation of funding, to keep our people and communities safe and secure."

Mr Foster urged the government to use the review as an "opportunity to invest in public safety" and "deliver the resources" the force needed.