The Government propose to reform the structure of funding arrangements for policing in England & Wales.
On 15 July 2015, the Home Office published consultation on the principles for the new arrangements.
Both the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cleveland (PCC) and the Chief Constable of Cleveland Police have prepared responses to submit before the deadline of 15 September 2015.
The Chief Constable has made a separate contribution in relation to police funding, to the current business of the Home Affairs Slect Committee. That response will be published separately by the Chief Constable.
The PCC is concerned that the Government has not set out the full background in relation to all of options they have considered.
In common with many PCCs, the PCC for Cleveland has asked the Government to disclose additional supporting information.
The request has been partially declined; with some documentation which is indirectly relevant to the consultation being disclosed less than 90 minutes before the consultation deadline.
The responses to the consultation prepared by the PCC and the Chief Constable, therefore, both point out the difficulty caused by the way in which consultation has been carried out.
The PCC for Cleveland has highlighted the following points to the Government:
- The need for multi-year certainty, or at least the ability to plan, especially when expected to work in partnership, forge and maintain collaborative service provision
- The reductions in Cleveland’s funding since 2010
- The extensive work to progress collaboration and service changes since 2010
- The effect that police funding changes will have across the local and regional public sector; and
- The constraints that further funding reductions would place on the PCC’s commitment to deliver the Police & Crime Plan, for which the PCC has a mandate and which has been refreshed but remained consistent throughout his term and (b) the challenge to maintenance and developing neighbourhood policing in the face of further reductions in funding.
The PCC is formally adopting the consultation responses as a Decision Record, given the significant public interest at stake.
Decision 86-2015. Consultation on Reform of Police Funding arrangements (application, 2MB)