The Government has shelved controversial changes to the funding of Cumbria police after admitting it got its sums wrong.
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An error in the formula used to calculate police budget cuts would have meant that Cumbria’s force faced an additional £5.8 million of cuts on top of what was already announced, bringing its total loss under the funding formula to £15.3m.
He said the funding process for 2016/17 would be delayed while he consulted police and crime commissioners.
Shadow policing minister Jack Dromey said 31 of the 43 forces in England and Wales were set to lose out as a result of what he described as the “monumental incompetence” of the Home Office.
The numbers have been changed because Home Office officials realised they had made a mistake in the way they calculated extra funding for areas suffering “adversity”, which can mean they have high levels of poverty and are considered to require extra funding.
“I have apologised, I’ll do it again if necessary, I don’t apologise for your tone because I think you got it wrong as usual”.
In an emergency statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Policing Minister Mike Penning apologised after admitting a “statistical error” was made on the data used.
The apology comes amid bitter controversy over the planned changes, with six Police and Crime Commissioners, including North Yorkshire commissioner Julia Mulligan, threatening the Home Office with legal action over fears they are set to lose millions of pounds in Government support.
He was responding to a question by Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz on the police funding formula calculation errors.
Tony Hogg, the Devon and Cornwall PCC, said last week after he disclosed the error: “The revelation is astounding and undermines the whole consultation process”.
At that point, it was thought that 11 forces would lose out on funding under the new arrangements, while four, including Humberside Police, would be unaffected and the remainder would see increases if overall levels of funding remain the same as past year.
He was unavailable for comment after Mr Penning’s admission, but Mr Smith said an independent panel should review future funding.
“We are refining our proposed model in light of responses to the public consultation and are engaging further with Police and Crime Commissioners and forces as part of this process”.
“What started off with good intentions is rapidly descending into farce”.
Mr Smith said: “This has been fouled up very badly”.
He told Mr Penning: “This entire process has been described by PCCs and others as unfair, unjust and fundamentally flawed”.
“To call it a shambles would be charitable”. “Would you confirm to all those across Devon and Cornwall that in reviewing this situation, you will also take full account of the impact on rural policing and the impact of tourism on policing costs?”
“What was quite clear to me and the Home Secretary was we needed to make a decision to pause so we get it right”.
“We told the Home Office that we could not reconcile the data that they had used two weeks ago but it is only now that they have admitted that we were right”.
Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner, who has called for Mr Penning to consider his position, said: “This outcome totally vindicates my stance on the issue and I want to thank all the Lancashire MPs for agreeing to meet with me and taking this forward”.
“However, the financial situation in Cumbria remains challenging and we await with a few trepidation the announcement about future budget cuts under the Comprehensive Spending Review to be announced on November 25”.
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“The funding formula was clearly flawed and we must ensure [the next formula] takes into account the circumstances of each individual county and – in the case of Cumbria – our rurality, with a small population, mountain range and poor infrastructure”.
