West Midlands PCC Simon Foster has called for a “levelling up” of West Midlands Police.

The government are currently reviewing the police allocation formula which uses various data sources such as population density to share money between forces in England and Wales. 

The formula splits the police workload into 11 categories including more serious violence/sexual offences, robbery, vehicle crime and providing reassurance to the public. 

It then predicts the relative workload for each category based on socio-economic and demographic factors. For example, population sparsity is the predictor used for providing assistance at and reducing road traffic accidents. Areas with lower population density receive more funding than those with higher population densities. 

For years, there have been calls for the formula to be updated and just last week the Public Accounts Committee expressed concerns over the distribution of Uplift officers under the formula. 

Today, the West Midlands PCC said the formula costs the force “around £40m per year.”

“The government are currently examining the police funding formula,” he told his Strategic Policing and Crime Board.

“They must take the opportunity to level up West Midlands, we need our 1,000 missing officers back and a funding formula that guarantees adequate and fair funding for West Midlands Police.”

He also said that the police pay settlement that was announced last week is estimated to cost the force an additional £6.1m in the current financial year, and £10.4m in the subsequent financial year (2023/24). 

A letter from the Home Secretary to the Police Renumeration Body confirmed there would be £70m available this financial year and £140m for each of the following two financial years for this. 

However, West Midlands have calculated this to work out at £4.27m and £8.54m respectively for them, leaving a funding gap in both cases. 

“It is the first duty of the government to keep its people safe and secure,” PCC Foster said. 

“Over the past decade there has been a serious breach of that duty that has and continues to have catastrophic and devastating consequences [...] central government has recklessly defunded our police, preventative public services and criminal justice system and that has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in violent crime.”