Mayor warns of police funding crisis

The Mayor of London has called for urgent confirmation that police funding will be increased to ensure the capital can be kept safe. Sadiq Khan has called for the government to abandon its ‘unwelcome’ funding formula review, ending years of underfunding and real-term cuts, to ensure crisis is averted. He delivered his ’starkest warning yet’ that continued uncertainty and inaction from government and the scale of the funding crisis will make a significant reduction in officer numbers inevitable. He said that they risk falling below 30,000 for the first time since 2003 in the next two years, simply to balance the books. Real-terms government cuts has meant that more than £600 million of savings have already been saved since 2010, front counters have closed, buildings have been sold and 2,800 PCSOs and police staff posts have been lost. A further £400 million of savings will be needed by 2021 because the flat budget settlement fails to account for the increasing demand or inflationary pressure on policing. All opportunities for generating more income or making substantial savings are already being taken, yet terrorism remains a threat. A reduction in officer numbers will mean more pressure on the already overstretched teams who protect Londoners, and reductions in preventative work to tackle serious, organised crime and terrorism. The Mayor has increased the council tax precept by the maximum percentage possible to provide additional funds and protect the frontline, but this is ‘just a fraction of what is needed’. Sadiq Khan said: “At a time of rising crime and unprecedented threat, we are facing a funding crisis in our police service that only the government can help to avert. The alarming scale of the pressure means Londoners’ safety is at risk. We are at a cliff-edge. “If ministers do not act now to confirm they will scrap the funding formula review and increase funding through the annual settlement and by properly reimbursing the Met for the work undertaken because of our capital city status, the safety of our city hangs in the balance and we will have no choice but to stop recruiting and prepare to reduce our frontline. “If the Government doesn’t act now we risk our police officer numbers falling below 30,000 for the first time since 2003, at a time when we need them most. For every day the government delays, we come a day closer to facing inevitable and extremely difficult decisions that will affect the safety of Londoners not just today, but potentially far into the future.”