THE POLICING budget for Dyfed-Powys could benefit to the tune of £13.5m if policing was devolved, according to a Plaid Cymru MP.
The claim was made by Jonathan Edwards MP, who has raised concern ahead of the Home Office’s new policing budget formula consultation.
A policing grant consultation, launched by the then Home Secretary Theresa May, was abandoned earlier this year after Policing Minister Mike Penning admitted there had been a ‘statistical error’ on which several Police and Crime Commissioners threatened legal action.
Mr Edwards said that last year’s formula would have resulted in a £32 million cut to Welsh forces – £7.9m of which would have been cut from Dyfed-Powys constabulary – a staggering 16% of the force budget.
New policing minister Brandon Lewis MP has recently announced a new review of the Police Core Grant Distribution Formula, which prompted Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner, Dafydd Llywelyn to host a summit for all elected members in the force area.
Mr Llyweyln is set to meet directly with the minister next month, but is urging politicians from all parties to support a fair funding formula that adequately reflects challenges faced by the force.
Figures provided to Jonathan Edwards show a formula which better reflects population statistics would result in an additional £25 million for Welsh forces – £13.5 million in the case of Dyfed-Powys – a figure the Plaid MP says strengthens the case for devolving policing.
Mr Edwards said: “The 43 police forces of Wales and England often have different needs and challenges. Policing is a field for which sophistication and complexity is needed in its funding formula to properly account for the relative needs of each force.
“The review last year sought to place greater emphasis on socio-economic data and more general crime figures. Such a formula doesn’t properly consider the workload differences of each constabulary and would have resulted in a £32 million cut to Welsh forces, with almost £8 million cut from our local force.
“Figures provided to me by Dyfed- Powys Police indicate that funding our forces in line with population would result in an additional £25 million for the four forces in Wales. This is particularly important when we consider that policing is devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland. for whom the new formula would not apply.
“If policing was devolved to Wales, a position supported by all Police and Crime Commissioners, the overall Barnett formula for funding public services would indeed be based on our population. It is only be retaining policing control in Westminster that Welsh forces face these significant cuts.”
“Dyfed-Powys Police has already dealt with a £13 million cut from the Tory Home Office. One of the results of those cuts was the loss of our dedicated police helicopter. If further cuts come as a result of an inappropriate funding formula, what services will have to go next? With a formula taking proper account of population, Dyfed-Powys would actually receive an additional £13 million.
“Plaid Cymru will be actively working to lobby the policing minister to implement a formula that does not disadvantage the four Welsh forces, but the case for the devolution of policing to the National Assembly grows by the day and has never been stronger.
“It seems the best way to protect our policing system is to remove it from the simplistic one-size-fits-all approach at Westminster and operate a system that is developed in Wales and works for Wales.”
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