Northants crime commissioner welcomes Home Secretary's police pledge

The recently-appointed Home Secretary gave his first speech to the Police Federation yesterday (Wednesday) and said “he is listening” to concerns.

He promised that forces’ funding during the next Home Office spending review will prioritised.

Mr Mold said: “The Home Secretary said he recognises the challenges facing policing and has pledged to look at police funding as a priority – that is welcome news.

“I have been clear that Northamptonshire does not get a fair deal in police funding.

“Our resources have been consistently frozen and so this year, I asked council taxpayers to contribute more to support policing.

“Northamptonshire Police has had more funding each year since I became police and crime commissioner in 2016, but central government funding continues to be uncertain.

“Sadly, the current funding formula is based on outdated measures and needs to reflect the changing nature of crime and its effects, and to be more accurately based on the size of our population.

“I understand that we need to be able to articulate the challenges we face more clearly to explain why we need more resources and I will be working with the chief constable to gather the evidence to make our case.

“I can also guarantee that we’ll be doing everything possible to make the best use of public money, including working more closely with the fire service to share buildings and other enabling services.

“I am accountable to the public for the way their money is spent and I take that responsibility seriously.”

Mr Mold also welcomed the Home Secretary’s comments around stop and search, and the use of police officers’ professional judgement.

He said: “That pragmatic approach was made clear in yesterday’s announcement by the Home Office of proposals to give police drivers more legal protection to pursue criminals.

“The Home Secretary’s speech set a really positive tone.

“That can only be a good thing and I look forward to working with them on a better deal for Northamptonshire.”