Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, welcomes £1.8m for force but calls for fairer funding split
Suffolk streets are set to get more police officers after a £1.8 million boost – but concerns remain the force is still getting a “poor deal” compared to Norfolk.
The Government announced last week that Suffolk would be getting £1.8 million in grant funding, to go towards placing 26 extra officers on the streets.
The money is part of Labour’s goal of placing 13,000 additional officers, police community support officers and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles, by the end of the current Parliament, which will run up to 2029.
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, welcomed the extra cash, and praised the force for already introducing 80 named community police officers at the end of 2023.
He said: “This additional funding will build on this existing good work and enable the chief constable to recruit even more officers to support communities in Suffolk.”
However, Mr Passmore reiterated his criticism of the ongoing government refusal to reform the formula for funding police forces.
The PCC has repeatedly stated that Suffolk gets a poor deal in relation to other similar counties, with funding based on an outdated formula.
For instance, this latest neighbourhood policing grant award netted Norfolk Police just over £2.2 million, which pays for the equivalent of 31 new officers.
He said: “Whilst I am obviously delighted with this extra funding, I will continue to lobby government for a fairer funding formula for Suffolk – nothing else will do.”
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