The funding package for 2021/22 includes £400million to replace the 20,000 officers who vanished from the frontline during a previous Conservative government. A total of £30million has also been earmarked to help forces step up Covid enforcement in the coming months. Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I am absolutely committed to giving the police the resources they need and this funding package delivers on that.
“It will allow us to continue to put more police on the streets, and reduce crime as we build back safer from the pandemic. We have asked more of the police than ever before during the pandemic and the British people and I are extremely grateful for their dedication.”
The first year of the recruitment drive has resulted in 6,000 new officers, the Home Office said yesterday.
The package, to be announced today, includes £914million for counter-terrorism policing and £32million for a counter-terror operations centre.
It represents an increase of up to £636million on last year, should Police and Crime Commissioners around the country take full advantage of “police precept flexibility”.
The publication of the provisional funding settlement opens a period of consultation.
The final funding settlement will be debated in Parliament and will be seen as a major U-turn on policies introduced by former Conservative leader Theresa May.
She was blamed for massive budget cuts that resulted in the loss of 20,000 frontline officers and 10,000 civilian staff.
Last year, a group of ex-police chiefs, including former Metropolitan commissioners, branded Mrs May Britain’s “worst” premier and home secretary and said that her exit ended a “dark period for policing”.
