Police chief against funding plan

Dr Brain made the criticisms in an article for 'Policing Today'

Planned changes to the way the national policing operation is funded could lead to "dislocation", Gloucestershire's Chief Constable has warned.

Dr Tim Brain, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on finance, believes the system would favour forces in central England.

He has warned that jobs could go in other forces including Gloucestershire.

Dr Brain has criticised recommendations by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary which he said were not thought through.

He made the criticisms in an article written for the current edition of Policing Today magazine, where he discussed the financial aspects of the recent Green Paper "From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together".

Among the proposals in the policing green paper, detailed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in July 2008, were calls for the public to be more involved with police through elected crime and policing representatives.

The plans also included a new enhanced role for the Inspectorate of Constabulary, giving it a greater role to "robustly scrutinise police performance".

'Not good enough'

In an interview with BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Dr Brain said: "Really the policy-makers, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, should have thought this one through.

"They've made a blanket recommendation without looking at what the outcome of that recommendation would be.

"The real recommendation they should have made is to look at the funding formula - say it's not good enough, say it's not fit for purpose and start building something that is."

Government funding for police authorities, known as the police allocation funding formula, is allocated using a funding formula that distributes resources on the basis of relative need.

A spokesman from the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said: "The three-year funding settlement for the years 2008/09 to 2010/11 reflects the government's continuing commitment to improve policing and further reduce crime.

"This is backed up by a programme of reform and modernisation and a continuing drive to increase efficiency and productivity and cut bureaucracy.

"The police service in England and Wales has benefited from a significant increase in resources over a sustained period.

"On a like-for-like basis government grant for the police will have increased by over 60% or over £3.7bn between 1997/98 and 2010/11.

"Government funding for police authorities is allocated using a funding formula that distributes resources on the basis of relative need.

"A review of the police allocation funding formula is currently under way with representatives from ACPO and the Association of Police Authorities and we are open to discussion on all of the issues which may arise during this process."