Suffolk Police need better levelling-up funding deal - PCC

Suffolk Police receives one of the lowest amounts of money per-head, its PCC claimed

A Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said his county's force should get more government money as part of the "levelling up agenda".

Tim Passmore, PCC, claimed Suffolk Police "gets a pretty poor deal" in terms of funding.

Mr Passmore, elected for the third time this year, said: "I am not giving up on the issue regarding funding."

The Home Office said the government would review the police funding formula before the next general election.

Mr Passmore told a meeting of Suffolk's public sector leaders that he "sounds like a stuck record" on police funding, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"I am promised for the third time that there is going to be a funding formula review for policing, this is in the Home Office settlement," he said.

Tim Passmore has been Suffolk's directly-elected PCC since 2012, when the post was introduced

Mr Passmore said Suffolk received "£5 per resident in Suffolk less than in Norfolk" in terms of police funding.

"We get £114 per resident from the Home Office grant, and if you compare that with places like Merseyside and the West Midlands, Merseyside gets £217... West Midlands £199," he said.

"Now this discrepancy is so big, and with the levelling-up agenda, at least some progress would be required because this is about the future of Suffolk, good policing."

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About two-thirds of policing budgets come from government grants, with a third generated from the police precept element of the council tax bill.

Mr Passmore raised the precept by 4.69% for this year - around 19p per week for a Band D property, to help fund the force.

A Home Office spokesman said: "As part of our work to level up across the country and build back safer from the pandemic, we are giving the police the resources and tools they need to cut crime through strengthening police powers, driving up new recruits and improving welfare.

"Suffolk has received a funding increase of up to £6.9m for 2021-22 and 90 additional officers have been recruited to the force through our campaign."

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