ESSEX Police Federation has hit out at the Home Secretary after her recent comments about police funding.<\/p>\n
Amber Rudd had lambasted police chiefs and crime commissioners who had called for extra funding earlier this month, saying that forces are sitting on \u00a31.6bn reserves. She added: \u201cI don\u2019t just want to see you reaching for a pen to write a press release asking for more money from the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Taylor, Federation Chairman, said the episode was an \u201cembarrassment” and \u201cdisgusting\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cHow can we expect the political leader of our organisation, the Police and Crime Commissioner, not to be lobbying on behalf of our organisation, in areas of funding, in areas of the media and press releases just because it\u2019s making the Home Secretary uncomfortable? It\u2019s disgusting.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Her comments] politicise policing and policing isn\u2019t a political football to be kicked around. Our Chief Constables are purposefully independent of politics, and as such they don\u2019t openly lobby or get involved in these types of things because they respect the integrity of the office. I wish the Home Secretary would respect the integrity of the Police and Crime Commissioners whose purpose, surely, is to lobby on behalf of local people\u201d<\/p>\n
PCCs have been given the responsibility to deliver policing at a local level and yet not been given enough cash to do the task in hand, Steve added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of sympathy with Police and Crime Commissioners when they\u2019re told by the Home Secretary, \u2018Stop embarrassing me by asking me for more money\u2019, when that\u2019s exactly what the people of Essex need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEssex is the cheapest force in the country, and if you\u2019re not going to give us more money nationally, then give us the opportunity to raise more money locally. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s an unreasonable position for anyone to hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you combine the central Government grant to policing with the precept from the council tax, Essex is the lowest figure in the country but is the 17th biggest force. We\u2019re actually given the least amount of money to deliver that service and that\u2019s not fair. It\u2019s not fair on the people of Essex and it\u2019s not fair on our members, who have to do more with less to provide that service.\u201d<\/p>\n
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