Backing calls for fair police funding for rural areas

Matthew Barber has backed calls by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the National Rural Crime Network for fair funding from the Home Office. “Policing representatives seek fairer funding to stamp out rural crime”

The Police Allocation Formula, used by the Home Office to distribute funding to police forces is out of date and does not take into account the complexity of modern crime trends.

Matthew Barber said, “In Thames Valley we have one of the largest and arguably the best rural crime team in the country. They are doing fantastic work locally, across the country - and event internationally - to stop organised criminals exploiting rural farms and businesses. We have seen continued reductions in rural crime, and a tough response from the police.”

This could all be at jeopardy however, with continued pressures on police finances and the government’s threat to abolish local police forces. This year Thames Valley Police has already seen the Home Office reduce it’s budget by around £9m from what was expected before Christmas; and the proposals for regional mega-forces will only mean policing being further removed from the community it serves, and less focus on rural areas.

In this coming financial year there is already £99.3m being taken away from local police forces to fund the reform programme, and that is before any changes have actually been made. That is money that could be spent on keeping people safe and preventing crime today.