Stuart Anderson MP has said government funding for the police "does not even touch the surface of what is required" to offset financial challenges facing individual forces.
West Mercia Police, for example, is due to receive an extra £11.9 million compared to last year. However, a deficit of £11.3 million is left when inflation, demand, and increased costs from hikes on employer's National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are considered.
In its medium-term financial strategy, West Mercia Police states central government funding is "not sufficient to meet the additional cost of inflation."
Increased costs facing West Mercia Police include £12 million to cover inflation and £7 million to meet additional demand - as well as £4.2 million from the impact of the additional NIC liabilities incurred.
Stuart has written to the Home Secretary to request further funding in the upcoming Spring Statement, expected to be delivered on 26th March 2025. He has added that the hike on NICs alone represents the equivalent of 82 police officers, given the average salary of a police officer is £35,000 a year.
It is the latest stage in Stuart's long-term campaign to enhance public services across South Shropshire. In a series of interventions since his election, Stuart's called for more funding to tackle crime and improve police presence in rural areas like South Shropshire.
The previous government increased police funding by more than 30 per cent during the last Parliament. Under the previous government, the number of new recruits across England and Wales was 46,505. This included 811 for West Mercia.
As part of the police uplift programme, over 20,000 more police officers were recruited. This included 330 for West Mercia, against an allocation of 311 - more than pledged. This brought the total number to 149,769 – the highest number of since comparable records began in 2003.
The Government plans to recruit 13,000 new officers. However, only 3,000 will be newly recruited officers. Another 3,000 will come from internal workforce reshuffling, while the remaining 7,000 will be recruited from Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and volunteer special constables.
Ministers have stated that funding for future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase two of the Spending Review where they will want to consider police funding in the round. They added that this will include how police funding is allocated to forces.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
"Crime has a devastating impact on lives across South Shropshire, so the police must be equipped with the funding needed to keep our communities safe. I am concerned that the level of funding allocated to West Mercia does not even touch the surface of what is required to offset the challenges they face. West Mercia Police is due to receive an extra £11.9 million compared to last year. However, a deficit of £11.3 million is left when inflation, demand, and increased costs from hikes on employer's National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are considered. The £4.2 million needed to cover the latter represents the equivalent of more than 80 police officers. Under the previous government, the number of police officers rose to 149,769 – the highest number on record began. I am worried that September's headcount is already down 883 officers. I hope that this decline is quickly addressed and further funding will be announced."
