Cameron blasted by police chiefs in cuts row

North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell and police authority chairman Jane Kenyon have taken the unusual step of jointly writing to Downing Street to refute comments made by Mr Cameron to the Yorkshire Post, reported a week ago.

The letter says the Prime Minister’s claim that North Yorkshire would only suffer a below average budget cut of 2.4 per cent over four years “is a comment we must robustly dispute”.

North Yorkshire said it faced an overall 16 per cent cash reduction – a figure which even then was “understated” given current inflation levels.

The outspoken comments from Mr Maxwell and Coun Kenyon, a Tory councillor, pile further pressure on the Prime Minister who has been under increasing fire over police funding cuts in the wake of the recent widespread rioting.

Last night, a Downing Street spokeswoman said the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the Yorkshire Post, would be answered in due course but added that Mr Cameron stood by his previous comments.

She added: “As he has consistently said, the urgent need to take action to reduce our budget deficit is clear from events across the world right now. The reduction in police budgets for the spending review period are challenging but manageable.

“There is no question the police will have the resources to do their important work.”

The letter from North Yorkshire gives a detailed breakdown of the cuts facing the force, which in common with others relies on a mixture of central Government funding and money raised through council tax.

It says a £3m reduction in Government funding for the current year alone represents a 3.4 per cent cut which “clearly within the time period of one year...exceeds the level quoted.”

Government funding is prioritised towards forces with the greatest need, meaning council taxpayers in North Yorkshire pay more towards policing than elsewhere. The letter says this “should not be used to cover the overall reductions. This is especially relevant as we received the second lowest level of central funding for last year and from 2006/07 to 2010/11 our formula grant increased by just four per cent compared to an average 12 per cent increase nationally.”

Mr Maxwell and Coun Kenyon outline the efforts already made to reduce budgets, including cutting police staff by 300 while also managing to reduce overall crime levels. They say: “We have got on and dealt with what we see as the challenge. However, the public statement that our cut is only 2.4 per cent is a comment we must robustly dispute. Next year alone sees our funding per head of population reduce from £39.34 to £36.70, a six per cent reduction on one of the lowest amounts in the country.

“Our best efforts are being put in place to ensure a minimal impact on our service users and in effect to enhance service delivery wherever possible.

“There is, however, an inescapable reality that we will have fewer resources available to deploy in the future.”

The letter concludes with an invitation to Mr Cameron to visit North Yorkshire to “see first hand how we are continuing to adapt and respond to increasing demands with reduced resources”.

However, the Tory MP for Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith, leapt to the Prime Minister’s defence and specifically highlighted the money spent on the recent disciplinary case against Mr Maxwell, who ultimately admitted gross misconduct over allegations of nepotism.

Mr Smith said: “I am stunned that the police force and authority are complaining about their budgets only weeks after it was revealed that a quarter of a million pounds in legal and related costs was spent on the various disciplinary proceedings against Mr Maxwell.

“There are huge opportunities to make further back office savings for example by pooling resources better across all four Yorkshire forces, reviewing North Yorkshire’s palatial head office and tightening belts further.

“That the current leadership seeks to complain rather than act is yet another example of why we urgently need a change of chief constable and a new and independent police commissioner to hold North Yorkshire Police fully to account.

“The current crisis in North Yorkshire policing is about leadership not budgets.”