Cuts to frontline officer recruitment amid funding gap

Planned recruitment of 70 frontline officers cannot go ahead due to lower than expected funding from central government, police chiefs say.

Avon and Somerset Police said it was expecting a grant of £275.3m this year, but funding confirmed by government is more than £4m less than that.

Increased costs and inflation mean that growth in officer numbers would not be achievable, a force spokesperson added.

However, a government spokesperson said it had given the force a "real terms cash increase of 4.5% on last year's funding settlement".

To help balance its books, the force's police and crime panel voted on Tuesday unanimously in favour of a proposal to increase the police precept - the portion of council tax allocated to police services - by 5.1%.

This means residents living in an average Band D property will pay £15 more annually.

Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody said 57% of the force's funding comes from a Home Office central grant and 43% is generated through local council taxes.

Moody told the BBC: "Naturally I think we need more money.

"This is a budget that will be balanced over the coming three years...we are not looking at cuts," she added.

Chief Constable Sarah Crew told the meeting the increase was a "necessary decision" and that "without the maximum precept, deeper savings would impact services".

She said in a letter to Moody: "I am disappointed not to be able to present a plan which includes further growth in police officers, however the funding settlement does not allow for this commitment to be made.

"My hope that we can revisit these plans and reintroduce them should our future financial position allow for this."

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said since taking office, this government has increased police funding by nearly £2bn.

"We are restoring neighbourhood policing, with nearly 2,400 more neighbourhood officers in our communities.

"And we are now reforming policing, so local forces protect their communities, and national policing protects us all," she added.

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