MEL Stride, the MP for Central Devon, has welcomed the news announced by the Government on Wednesday, December 20, of a substantial £450 million increase in police funding across England and Wales.

The commitment announced includes up to an additional £270 million in police force budgets, so that individual forces have the resources they need to respond to changes in demand.

Police funding in Devon and Cornwall could increase by up to £8.5 million in 2018/19 as a result of these changes.

Mr Stride has also welcomed news that the counter terrorism policing budget will rise by seven per cent, with a £50 million increase taking it to at least £757 million, and £130 million extra for national policing priorities.

This means the Government is now spending more on counter terrorism policing than ever before.

Mr Stride said: “The first responsibility of government is to keep our country and its citizens safe, and to protect our way of life and our values.

"Over the past seven years crime has fallen by more than a third across the country, but we know there is more to do. That’s why we are putting in this additional investment to help Devon and Cornwall Police keep people safe.”

Last month Mr Stride met with Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez to discuss a range of issues including police funding, counter terrorism and the challenges faced by rural forces.

The Home Office is enabling PCCs to increase their funding by up to £270m in 2018/19 by paying the same level of core Government grant funding as in 2017/18, and giving PCCs the flexibility to increase their funding by increasing Council Tax precept by up to £1 a month for a typical householder without the need to call a local referendum.

In 2015 the Government protected police spending in real terms to ensure the police had the resources they need to keep everyone safe.

In advance of this year’s settlement the Government has been engaging with the police to make sure that is still the case.

This has seen the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service speak to the leaders of all 43 police forces, as well as many rank and file officers, to understand how demands on the police are changing.

It is clear the police are seeing more complex crime being reported, including previously hidden crimes such as Child Sexual Exploitation and modern slavery, and forces must respond to the terrorist threat. These represent new demands on the policing, which is why these new funds have been made available.

Funding for counter terrorism policing is ring-fenced for this national priority. The budget for 2017/18 was £707 million. In 2018/19, the budget will increase by £50 million to £757 million to help deal with the fast-changing and increasingly challenging threat from terrorism. This is new money that was not part of the Spending Review 2015 settlement.

An additional £130 million will be invested in national priorities, such as digital technology. Police forces will have access to £175 million Police Transformation Fund, in order to help drive police reform.

The 2018/19 funding settlement helps the police respond to these challenges so they can build on the fall in crime of more than a third that we have seen since 2010.

Alan Quick