John Campion has called for fairer funding for West Mercia Police, after a HMIC report was published which shows the force is underfunded when compared to peers.
The Value for Money report showed West Mercia Police receives around £5.8 million less than other forces of a similar size and demand. Whilst Mercia Police receives a lower than average demand for 999 calls and emergency incidents, it does receive a higher demand for victim based crimes, in particular violent crimes and crimes against children.
West Mercia Police has an above average number of police officers in relation to the population size, and is performing well with a higher than average number of suspects identified. Investments have been made in ICT modernisation to improve efficiencies and effectiveness in the future.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said “I promised to deliver and efficient and effective service for our communities, whilst improving value for money. West Mercia Police are already delivering this service through their focus on visibility and investments in technology, but we can build on this. With fairer funding, we can improve resources to the areas of greatest demand. This will deliver, for the public, a police service that they should rightfully expect.”
Issued: Thursday 17th November 2016
