FAIR FUNDING FOR DERBYSHIRE POLICE FORCE ESSENTIAL

Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield today tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for fair funding for the police in Derbyshire. Commenting on the situation facing Derbyshire Constabulary, Paul Holmes MP said:

"Derbyshire Police have been under-funded for many years.

The Labour Government finally admitted that Derbyshire's Police deserve higher funding last year, but still took £5.2 million this year from the money they should have been assigned and gave it to other better funded forces.

Next year this redistribution of funds away from Derbyshire Constabulary will increase to £5.7 million. Without this money there will have to be cuts to police numbers and neighbourhood policing.

Not only has the Labour Government failed to keep their promise to increase funding, they have reduced the number of Police Community Support Officers Derbyshire will receive.

When will the Home Office applying their own spending formula and give our police the money and resources they deserve?"

The full text of Paul Holmes' EDM on police funding in Derbyshire reads:

That this house applauds the work of the Derbyshire Constabulary and its achievements in cutting crime on a limited budget; acknowledges that the Government's spending formula for 2005-6 indicated that councils across Derbyshire should have received an extra £20.75 million of Government grant; recognises that the Derbyshire police force should have had an extra £5.2 million this year and £5.7 million next year; deplores the reduction in promised Police Community Support Officers for Derbyshire from 280 to 160; believes that over the next two years up to 2008 Government funding plans will require a further £6 million of under funding or cuts in Derbyshire police; considers that this funding level will require a reduction in police officer numbers, less resources for neighbourhood policing and reduced opportunities to make full use of advances in forensic science that would otherwise improve detection rates; and calls on the Government to stop siphoning funds away from Derbyshire to other councils around the country.