So-called police funding boost is nothing more than smoke and mirrors, says Deputy Mayor

Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Beverley Hughes

The Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester has accused the Government of deceiving the public as the Home Secretary’s supposed £34.7m boost to local policing budgets is exposed as smoke and mirrors.

Last week's announcement of the police grant for 2019/20 has confirmed an additional £15m of grant funding for Greater Manchester Police. However, this money will merely cover the police pension shortfall – an additional financial burden that has been caused by the Treasury moving the goalposts on how it calculates pension contributions and passing the shortfall on to police forces.

The Government’s calculation also assumes that local areas will increase the police element of the council tax by £24 per household. This, says the Deputy Mayor, simply passes the burden on to hard-pressed local communities who are already struggling due to years of austerity.

Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Hughes said: “Whichever way you look at it - and however much the Government badges it as such – this is far from an investment in local policing and brings very little respite to an over-stretched police service. It is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

“Shamefully, Ministers are once again passing on the cost of local policing to hard-pressed local taxpayers who are already bearing the brunt of eight years of real-term cuts – it is not acceptable

“However, the public rightly expect us to ensure that our police service is properly resourced to protect them. Our precept proposal, which we will outline in the coming days/weeks, will therefore need to balance these competing demands.

“With some of the most deprived areas, Greater Manchester is less able to raise money from council tax compared to more affluent areas of the country, which means central Government cuts hit our communities the hardest.

“I expected much more from the Home Secretary following his warm words earlier in the year, but he has simply followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by abdicating responsibility for this policing crisis.

“Today’s announcement is extremely disappointing and further confirms the Government’s complete lack of responsibility and respect for our police service and for community safety.”

Greater Manchester Police has lost 2,000 officers, 1,000 police staff and £215m since 2010.