Dorset MPs call for fairer police funding

Both Dorset MPs highlighted that funding calculations do not take into account the seasonal population increase

Dorset MPs have called for fairer funding for the police amid fears the county is missing out.

Speaking as part of a Parliamentary debate on the Police Grant Report, both West Dorset MP Chris Loder and South Dorset MP Richard Drax called for the county to receive its fair share of funding for policing.

Loder said: Dorset comes right at the top for demand, which is measured by crime pressure and calculated on the basis of severity of crime and number of officers per force.

Demand in Dorset is three times the national average, but our police force is 28 out of 41 for total funding. That does not sound too bad in the grand scheme of things, but it takes into account the local funding from the precept; in the police grant report, Dorset Police force comes 40 out of 41, he said.

Both Dorset MPs highlighted that funding calculations do not take into account the seasonal population increase.

Drax said: Under the national funding formula, Dorset receives £91.79 a head. The range is from £188 to, say, £90 and the median is £109.28. To reach it, Dorset would need another £13.5 million in funding.

On net revenue expenditure, Dorset is 28 out of 41 forces. The median is £189 a head, and Dorset would need an extra £5.4 million to reach the median, he said.

Dorset is 40 out of 41 on the national funding for violence prevention and safe spaces. Our request to join the electronic monitoring of offenders pilot was sadly rejected, he said.

The South Dorset MP also cited that Dorset is just outside the top ten for armed deployments which he says is ‘extraordinary’.

Drax finished by saying he looks forward to the Minister for Crime and Policing, Kit Malthouse, visiting the county to meet with the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable in a bid to 'resolve at least some of the issues’.