Upsi police briefing paper no 1 final

Page 1

Police Funding

(England & Wales) 2011-12 Police Briefing Paper No. 1

UNIVERSITIES’ POLICE SCIENCE INSTITUTE DR. TIMOTHY BRAIN, HONORARY RESEARCH FELLOW M AY 2 0 11

INTRODUCTION When on 13 December 2010 the Minister of State for Justice, Chris Herbert, announced the government grant settlement for the 43 police forces of England and Wales he brought to an end over a decade of sustained growth in police resources. Nor was this to be a mere blip. The cuts were intended to amount to 20 per cent in ‘real’ terms by 2014-15 and given their scale there could be no doubt about their strategic or political significance. For most of the previous thirty-five years the Police had enjoyed a favoured status in terms of funding under both Conservative and Labour administrations. The Minister’s statement signalled that this ‘special relationship’ was at an end. The cuts were not only seen as necessary in response to the United Kingdom’s high budget deficit, they were intended to be beneficial, bringing about greater effectiveness and efficiency.

DR. TIMOTHY BRAIN Dr Timothy Brain is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff University. He was Chief Constable of Gloucestershire from 2001 to 2010 and was chair of the ACPO Finance and Resources Business Area. His book A history of policing in England and Wales from 1974: a turbulent journey was published by OUP in 2010.


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