MP raises his fears over police force's funding

Pudsey MP Paul Truswell has warned West Yorkshire Police will struggle to meet growing demands if it does not get extra funding which it is denied in order to protect the budgets of other forces which are deemed to have been over-funded in the past.

He raised his concerns in a Westminster debate this week at a time when forces are bracing themselves for the impact of public- spending cuts after the election as the next government battles to repair the public finances.

The problem stems from Government changes to the formula which takes into account factors such as population size, crime rates and deprivation levels to set out how much police forces should get in grants from the Home Office.

When the formula was last changed, it deemed the West Yorkshire force should be getting 18m more than it actually does – but the Home Office refuses to implement the changes in full because it would be too damaging to the budgets of other forces which would lose money.

"The Government's revamping of the police funding formula recognises the chronic underfunding to which areas such as West Yorkshire had been subjected under Tory governments," Mr Truswell told MPs.

"There is no denying that extra funding for West Yorkshire has allowed the number of police officers to rise to record levels.

"However, that clearly does not change the fact that West Yorkshire is still about 18m adrift of what it should have received under the Government's own assessment of its needs."

Under current plans, the West Yorkshire force will see its Government funding increase by 3.3 per cent next year, but Ministers refuse to give it a bigger rise because of the need to "dampen" the pain of forces which, according to the formula, have previously been over-funded.

"Unfortunately, the dampening of their pain also dampens West Yorkshire police's ability to continue meeting the challenges – and meeting the expectations not only of the local communities but of the Home Department," said Mr Truswell.

He also revealed the force expects to have a budget shortfall of 16m in 2011/12, and 26m in 2012/13, and called for more detail about how the Government intends to meet its Pre-Budget Report pledge to give forces enough money to stop them having to cut officer numbers.

Humberside Police last night revealed they were also receiving about 1.2m less this year than they would if the Home Office applied the formula in full.

North Yorkshire Police, which receives 5.5m "protection" from the formula's full implementation, said they had plans in place to deal with an estimated 17m overall budget shortfall by 2014-15.

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell offered little hope the forces would be given extra money, and revealed plans to review the formula this summer.

"I understand that some police force areas, such as his (Mr Truswell's), are adversely affected by damping," he said. "I assure him that mine – Northumbria – benefits from it.

"It is not just about applying rules but about whether the rules are right in the first place. To state the blindingly obvious, the pot remains the same size. If we change the funding formula and someone wins, someone else will lose. Damping ensures that nobody loses to the extent that it completely disrupts their activity."