Gwent PCC calls on the Prime Minister to provide a ‘clear picture of the policing budget’

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, has today joined Sir David Norsgrove, Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority and other Police and Crime Commissioners in calling upon the Prime Minster, Theresa May, to provide “a clear and honest picture” of the policing budget.

The call comes following the finding by the UK Statistics Authority that, although Prime Minister, Theresa May, claimed in Prime Minister’s questions that the UK Government was “not just protecting police budgets, but increasing them with an extra £450m” she did not inform the MPs present and the viewing public that £270m of the funding settlement would come from local council tax increases, should Police and Crime Commissioners and mayors choose to raise the levels in their individual areas.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert said “I have previously campaigned for the UK Government to increase funding for our police services and reduce pressure on local communities.

What the PM was actually referring to in her ‘£450million’ was a flat cash settlement for police forces in England and Wales which, in reality, amounted to a cut in central government grants to the police in real terms. Gwent Police has already seen its budget reduced by 40% in real terms since the start of the UK Government’s austerity programme in 2010/11, leaving me and many of my colleagues with little choice other than to turn to the local population to ensure Gwent Police has the necessary funds to keep people safe.

I therefore call upon Theresa May and her Ministers to be clear and honest with the public around the policing budget and to stop misleading them with this propaganda.”