Cambridgeshire’s Conservative MPs have written to the recently-appointed policing minister as the ongoing battle to secure more funds for the county’s police force continues.
The Home Office is reviewing how police funding is calculated and Cambridgeshire is currently considered to be “one of the lowest funded police forces in the country”.
Darryl Preston, Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (Cons), wrote to the previous policing minister in July outlining the disparity in detail.
And the six Tory MPs have sent a follow up letter to Jeremy Quin MP, who was appointed Minister of State for Policing and Crime last month by the Prime Minister Liz Truss.
They have also urged for changes to the way police funding is calculated so Cambridgeshire Police can receive a fairer settlement and more money to recruit officers and fight crime.
In a statement, Mr Preston said Cambridgeshire Constabulary is doing a “good job” at keeping communities safe, but “they are doing it without their fair share of resources”.
He explained in Cambridgeshire the cost of police per person, per day, is 48p whereas the national average is 23pc higher at 59p.
“But that average hides some truly staggering differences,” he said.
“Cumbria’s [figure is] 64p (33pc more); North Wales 66p (37pc more); Cleveland 69p (44pc more).
“If Cambridgeshire was to be funded to the national average, this would allow the Chief Constable to recruit many more police officers and 101 staff to better respond to the public when needed.”
The MPs added in their letter the average cost per person per year for the police in Cambridgeshire is £202.05, more than £20 less than the national figure of £224.25.
They argue the current funding formula fails to take into account that the county’s population growth since the last census is more than double the average for England.
The large student population, the science and business parks and the high level of tourism in the county are also not considered.
They further explain how Cambridgeshire Constabulary has a higher number of police officers per £1m of funding in comparison to similar forces, and maintaining numbers is costly to the tax payer.
“This is primarily a result of the fact that Cambridgeshire worked hard to protect police numbers after 2010,” they said.
They added maintaining the number of officers “given the region’s geographical size and overwhelmingly rural nature” means tax payers contribute almost half of the force’s funding through the council tax precept.
“... the constabulary has almost no flexibility in its budget for other investment,” they stressed.
The six Conservative MPs who co-signed the letter were: Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon; Steve Barclay, MP for North East Cambridgeshire; Lucy Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire; Paul Bristow, MP for Peterborough; Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire and Anthony Browne, MP for South Cambridgeshire.
They also requested a meeting with Jeremy Quin to discuss the issue in detail.
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