'Funding cuts do not add up'

2:19pm Thursday 11th October 2007

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A FORMER police chief has blasted plans to cut Government funding for the North Yorkshire force, claiming it would lead to staffing being "cut to the bone."

Allan Charlesworth, of Old Earswick, near York, said the force should be "handsomely rewarded for its sterling efforts to protect its residents, instead of being penalised for producing safe communities throughout the county."

Mr Charlesworth, a former deputy chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, was speaking out in support of The Press' Fund Our Force campaign, which calls on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to ensure the county police continues to receive adequate funding.

The campaign was launched after it emerged that a proposed new funding formula would give more money to urban, high-crime forces and less to rural, low-crime forces such as North Yorkshire, leading to a cut of up to £10 million in its Government grant.

Mr Charlesworth contacted The Press after North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell wrote exclusively in the paper about his concerns over the impact of the cuts.

The former deputy chief constable said: "Grahame Maxwell is right to voice his concern over the proposal to cut North Yorkshire's policing budget by a staggering £10 million. Such a swinging axe would inevitably cut his staffing levels to the bone. Why should his force be emasculated because it is performing well?"

He claimed the change was yet another example of the Government cynically copping out of central funding of services so that local authorities got the blame.

He said it would be "perverse in the extreme" to suggest that North Yorkshire Police did not deserve the cash.

"Why should the force be penalised by reducing the number of staff who are demonstrably cutting crime and making people feel safer? The approach is as illogical as cutting the number of teachers in a school because pupils are achieving good results, or reducing the number of doctors in a hospital because more people are being cured.

"Surely the Government should be encouraging public services to aim for excellence rather than condemning them to mediocrity. Throwing money at other under-achieving forces at the expense of those that are producing quality results is madness.

"The Home Secretary should not be allowed to get away with this blatant attempt at sleight of hand. It is time for cards on the table; is the new Prime Minister committed to being tough on crime and anti-social behaviour or not? If so, he should match his rhetoric by letting us see the colour of his Government's money in support of effective policing.

"North Yorkshire Police should be handsomely rewarded for its sterling efforts to protect its residents instead of being penalised for producing safe communities throughout the county."