Police chiefs are facing the “disgraceful” prospect of having to cut thousands of officers because of Labour’s funding crisis, critics have warned.
Ten forces have warned Home Secretary Yvette Cooper they will have a £300 million funding shortfall next year.
This means they could slash thousands of frontline officers and police community support officers to bolster their coffers.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced last month that the police’s core grant would rise by more than £260 million in 2025/26.
Chiefs fear this will not be enough to cover the above-inflation pay rises for officers.
And frontline officers on Monday condemned “yet another mirage” after being promised 13,000 neighbourhood bobbies by Sir Keir Starmer only last Thursday.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “It is disgraceful that police forces are faced with having to cut police numbers thanks to Labour’s real-term cut in funding when pay pressures are accounted for.
“This means that British people face falling police numbers even though Labour has slapped us with the biggest tax rise in recent memory – breaking their election promises in doing so. Conservatives left office with record police numbers – I call on Labour to maintain and grow those record police officer numbers.”
The ten forces include Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk but others have also warned they also face reductions.
Rich Cooke of the West Midlands Police Federation told the Daily Express: “We were promised 13,000 ‘neighbourhood officers’ by the incoming government, but it turns out this was yet another mirage, with only 3,000 actually going to have a warrant card.
“We need a long-term focus on restoring traditional local policing – not gimmicks. Policing has already taken a massive hit under austerity.
“What we desperately need now is not so much more officers, but investment – especially in training them properly, supporting the inexperienced, in equipment, and putting a station back in every town. Instead, we’re still closing them!
“Unfortunately, the latest news only reinforces that citizen safety and criminal justice remains criminally low down the list of govt priorities.”
Essex Chief Constable BJ Harrington and Police and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst said, in a letter to Ms Cooper, that they would be forced to make cuts to police numbers and cancel projects designed to modernise the force.
They wrote: “Our uncomfortable position is, therefore, that we face having to reduce our headcount at the same time as the government is asking us to make investment into neighbourhood policing, an investment which we and our residents would welcome.
“Our modelling shows that, as well as cancelling modernisation and improvement programmes, we will need to reduce our contingent of PCSOs by half and reduce our officer headcount.”
Labour has introduced new targets, telling police chiefs they must halve knife crime and violence against women and girls.
But some police and crime commissioners are warning these will be unachievable if the previous government’s 20,000 officer uplift is reversed.
Police chiefs have said they need an extra £331 million next year just to fund the latest 4.75 per cent police pay award.
Karen Bradley, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “Effective policing relies on having the right resourcing in place to allow it to meet the varied and evolving challenges it faces.
“We await the funding settlement and will look closely at its implications for combating crime and keeping us safe.
“The Home Affairs Committee will be questioning the Home Secretary next week, and we will take the opportunity to examine her plans for police funding and officer numbers.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Secretary has already announced an increase of over half a billion pounds of central government funding for policing next year, with a core grant increase of more than £260 million.
“This overall increase also includes an additional £100 million to reinvigorate neighbourhood policing and restore a visible presence of officers to our streets. Further funding and details on the overall settlement will be announced in due course.”
