It has been revealed that Cleveland Police is facing a £2.4 million funding shortfall after receiving the worst financial settlement in the whole country.
Stockton’s Conservative MP and Shadow Policing Minister, Matt Vickers, has slammed the Labour Government after it was revealed that Cleveland Police is facing a £2.4 million shortfall – the equivalent to 40 full-time police officers - putting the safety of communities across Teesside at risk.
Cleveland Police’s funding settlement from the Government amounts to just 2.9 per cent – well below inflation after properly accounting for pay rises for police officers.
The local MP has raised his ‘deep concerns’ that the settlement will make it harder to tackle crime locally and will put pressure on frontline policing.
Stockton’s Conservative MP and Shadow Policing Minister, Matt Vickers MP, said:
“I agree with the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner – the Labour government’s funding settlement for Cleveland is farcical.
“Labour promised to give our police the resources they need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour locally. They have done the exact opposite, and it is simply unacceptable.
"Under the previous Conservative government we saw thousands more police out on the streets of our country and already under Labour, numbers are falling.
“This Labour Government has handed the police an inadequate and unfair settlement whilst slamming them with the jobs tax and surging inflation, and releasing prisoners onto our streets early. I am deeply concerned about the impact this will have locally.
“Labour must give us the proper resources we need to keep bobbies on the beat and our communities safe. We deserve so much better than this.”
