Government cut Norfolk Police funding

Government funding for Norfolk Police has dropped in recent years, leaving local taxpayers to pick up the bill.

Figures from the Home Office show that Norfolk Police’s government funding dropped by 2 per cent between their budgets for the 2015-16 and 2018-19 financial years.

Over the same period, the amount of funding received through council tax, the other main source of revenue for the force, increased by 17 per cent.

Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Calum Macleod, said that the restriction in Government funding had led directly to reduced services and large pay cuts.

He said: “Policing has taken a huge financial hit from this Government, cutbacks that have seen many forces cut the services they can offer to the public and the near decimation of neighbourhood policing.

“Police officers put themselves in harm’s way day in, day out, and yet the only investment they get from Government is nice words and photo opportunities. The reality is that police officers have seen a pay cut of 15 per cent in real terms since 2010.”

The figures show that council tax accounts for a much higher portion of police funding in some parts of the country.

In Norfolk, the council tax precept is equivalent to 76 per cent of funding from the Government.