PCC Joy Allen responds to Budget

“I welcome the news that there will be an increase in public sector funding,particularly the commitment to starting investment in thousands more neighbourhood police officers and staff in support of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.  This is what our communities have asked for.

However,there is no escaping the fact that the increase in employer National Insurance contributions looks likely to impact our budget here in Durham to the tune of around £2.5m per annum.  In addition, we wait to see how the announcement that all Government departments will be required to meet a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target will affect our work in future years.

That’s why I add my voice to Chief Constables and PCCs across England and Wales, calling for a swift announcement regarding the police settlement.  This will enable us to consider our financial plans with some certainty and consult our communities with accurate information.  Police forces are already facing significant financial challenge, and I do not wish to see service levels impinged.

I will support the calls for funding to introduce the transformational changes necessary and redouble my efforts to see the police funding formula recalculated to level up the funding available to each force area.  It is no secret that I believe Durham to be unfairly handicapped by the current funding formula.

But this budget also contained some very positive measures to cut crime,particularly the shoplifting which has plagued retailers in recent years.  Additional funding will be provided to crackdown on the organised gangs which target retailers and to provide more training for police officers and retailers to help stop shoplifting in its tracks.

In addition, there will be a focus on fraud in the welfare system, again, often led by criminal gangs, with new legal powers to crackdown on fraudsters.  

The pledge to increase the Ministry of Justice’s budget is welcome news.  I chair our local Criminal Justice Board and have a key role working with partners to divert and rehabilitate offenders in the community, and I look forward to seeing more detail on how the additional £1.9 billion earmarked for the Ministry of Justice is to be invested.

So,we have the headlines, but we now await the detail.  One thing I can promise everyone is that Durham Constabulary, like me, remains committed to delivering safer streets for our communities.  

Ends

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