Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, today called for a new, fairer funding settlement, based upon population rather than crime statistics, for Dorset Police.
Speaking in the House during a debate on the motion to approve thus year’s police grant, Drax said that while he appreciated that the Minister had been dealt a “difficult pack of cards,” “Dorset still receives the second lowest grant per head of population—only Surrey receives less—and that has been the case for some years.”
Saying that the 2017-2018 cut in police grant had left Chief Constable Debbie Simpson and Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill “disappointed,” Drax added that the 1.4% cut in central government police grant for 2017-2018 was balanced by this year’s increase in council tax precept for policing, leaving overall funding for Dorset “static.”
The new spending review in November 2015 protected police spending, said Drax, “but that was based on the assumption that council tax would rise every year.”
In fact, he said, “every year, the number of people paying council tax in Dorset increases. One might think that that was good news, because it increases the tax base. However, that tax base is the direct result of an increase in the number of properties in the county, which in turn places more pressure on the police service.”
Dorset was “way ahead of many police forces in cutting backroom staff and making itself more efficient,” said Drax. “Yet the strategic alliance of Dorset police with Devon and Cornwall police would be required to deliver savings of £3.9 million this year and £12 million over the next three years. “
A new formula should be based on Dorset’s population, rather than on crime statistics. “The population measure is fair and robust, and it can be monitored, said Drax. “It is not influenced by police action. Crime statistics ignore things such as road safety and fear of crime, and they assume the same police response for every situation.”
“Any new formula needs to provide stability, transparency and certainty, and it must recognise the needs of a predominantly rural police force such as the one in Dorset.”
“Dorset needs a fairer share of the cake.”