£100m to battle knife crime is 'not enough' says PFEW

19 March 2019

A cash injection of £100m to help fight the rise in knife crime is ‘nowhere near enough’ the Police Federation of England and Wales has said.

The funds, announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his spring statement, should be welcomed John Apter, PFEW Chairman, said but he warned that it would only help as a ‘short term’ fix.

Speaking to Sky News, John said: “This is a drop in the ocean when it comes to money that's not only been stripped from policing, but other budgets, the social services budget, the education budget, and this is dealing with a crisis so yes, it's going to help a little bit, but it's not enough."

The amount put forward by the Government falls short of the £200m to £300m requested by police chiefs earlier this month, The Evening Standard reports, while police officer numbers are down by around 20,000 from a decade ago.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said "I've listened and we will be giving £100m extra to forces, targeting the hardest hit areas. I'll continue to give police the support they need."

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/promised-100m-fund-to-tackle-knife-crime-not-enough-police-federation-chairman-warns-a4095091.html