Hertfordshire promised extra funds to deliver anti-crime plan

20 December 2021

Hertfordshire is set to receive an extra £13.6 million of funding next year to help deliver the Home Secretary’s Beating Crime Plan.

Priti Patel said “reducing crime” would be her top priority for 2022, as she published a provisional funding settlement on 16 December proposing to increase the Force’s budget to £247.4m.

The offer is expected to be confirmed by Parliament in the New Year.

Ms Patel said: “Reducing crime is a top priority for this Government and I will continue working with police leaders to ensure this unprecedented investment results in less crime and fewer victims.”

The Beating Crime Plan sets an objective for forces of achieving fewer victims and safer neighbourhoods, with a particular focus on driving down homicides, serious violence and neighbourhood crime.

Geoff Bardell, chair of Hertfordshire Police Federation, said: “While the additional money is obviously very good news, we should not forget that it follows some very lean years for police funding. We are still recovering from the cuts made during the years of austerity and what we really need is a longer-term funding settlement that would allow PCCs and chief constables to plan further ahead.

“We also need the Government to urgently address the issue of officer pay. This year’s pay freeze came as a bitter blow to colleagues who have played such a critical, and challenging, role during the pandemic.

“Police officers will always go above and beyond, but dedication alone is not enough, we must have the right resources to do the job and they must also be treated fairly by politicians who claim to have their backs but then fail to actually demonstrate that is the case.”

The 2022/23 funding package represents an increase for policing in England and Wales of seven per cent and £16.9 billion in total in 2022/23.

The publication of the provisional funding settlement opens a period of consultation. The final police funding settlement will be debated in Parliament ahead of the new financial year.