Police budgets are ‘unsustainable’, says NPCC Chair

THE CURRENT cash settlement for forces is unsustainable and the service must be properly funded if it is to prevent and crime, NPCC Chair Sara Thornton has warned.

She said: “The police service is stretched – our staff are feeling it and the public is noticing it.”

Speaking at the Association of Police Crime Commissioners & NPCC Joint Summit, the former Thames Valley Chief Constable said she had raised the issue with the Home Office.

She said: “It has become clear that the 2015 settlement of flat cash for forces is unsustainable. Forces are being asked to absorb pay rises and inflationary pressures and this is leading to cuts in service. We are particularly concerned that these cuts are undermining crime prevention and proactive police work.”

Ms Thornton asked whether the UK is entering the end of a long-term decline in crime.

She added: “2017 has been challenging – five terrorist attacks in six months. Recorded crime is up by 13%, record levels of 999 calls and growing non-crime demand to bridge gaps in local services.

“There are very worrying signs about the increase nationally in violent crime. Knife crime, gun crime and serious violence have all increased significantly.”

The growing threat of online crime and abuse was also putting a strain on the service.

She added: “I do not think that we can risk viewing the rise in recorded crime as a blip. In the way that experts say there has been a shift rather than a spike in the terrorist threat, I think that we are seeing a shift rather than a blip in crime.”