West Mercia Police gets £5.8 million less funding that other similar sized forces, report reveals
West Mercia Police receives about £5.8 million less in funding than other forces of a similar size and demand, a new report revealed today.
The cash shortfall has angered John Campion, the region's police and crime commissioner, who today led calls for a fairer funding package.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, said attempts would be made to arrange a meeting between police representatives and government officials to lobby for more more money.
The value for money report, published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, shows the West Mercia force, which covers Shropshire, gets about £3.1 million less in central funding and £2.7 million less in local funding in relation to its population size.
HMIC compared West Mercia Police with forces in Norfolk, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall, Suffolk, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and North Yorkshire and looked at how forces spend money, invest resources and the demands they face.
The HMIC report reveals that West Mercia Police receives a lower than average demand for 999 calls and emergency incidents but it receives a higher demand for victim-based crimes.
The force also has an above average number of police officers and staff in relation to the population size, but on average less is spent on PCSOs and non-staff costs.
West Mercia Police also identifies a higher than average number of suspects when compared to its peers, according to the report.
Mr Campion said: "With fairer funding, we can improve resources to the areas of greatest demand.
"This will deliver, for the public, a police service that they should rightfully expect."
Mr Kawczynski said: "We are currently in the process of organising police representatives to meet with the secretary of state.
"They can then express directly the specific types of problems they have and lobby them for additional resources.
"I would also like to challenge the secretary of state as to why West Mercia Police receives less in comparison to other forces."
Heather Costello, director of finance for Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police, said: "We work closely with the police and crime and commissioner for West Mercia Police to help deliver a service that is both value for money and best serves the community and protecting people from harm.
"We will look in detail at the report to see if we can identify any other areas which will benefit from a focus on cost saving, as we work to continuously improve the effectiveness and value for money across the alliance."
