Police forces need to make decisions locally on how many officers to have, a minister has said after some warned of funding pressures.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said she was “not pretending” that police forces were not facing funding challenges.
The Government will invest an extra £100 million into neighbourhood policing, adding to £100 million announced in December for England and Wales to put 13,000 more police officers on the streets by 2029.
Forces had warned of difficult times ahead with current funding levels, and some said they would have to make cuts to officer numbers.
“I’m not pretending that it isn’t difficult and challenging for police forces,” Dame Diana told LBC.
“Obviously PCCs and chief constables have to make decisions locally about what’s the best makeup of their force in terms of police officers,” she said.
She said the Government was “starting from a difficult position” after 14 years under the Conservatives but around £1 billion of additional funding is going to forces from April and she is meeting with struggling police forces.
“Those police forces, and I’m very well aware of Essex and Lincolnshire, those police forces that are struggling, we want to work with them. We want to make this work.”
The new investment for more officers is scheduled for the next financial year and each police force will set out plans to use it to increase patrols by early spring.
Reacting to the cash boost on Friday, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) chairman Chief Constable Gavin Stephens welcomed the investment in neighbourhood policing, saying it is a “vital part of how we engage with our communities, building trust and confidence locally”.
It comes after ministers set out a provisional 3.5% real-terms increase in funding for forces with a £986.9 million boost in December.
That fell short of the £1.3 billion which chief constables said police forces would need to plug funding gaps over the next two years.
NPCC lead for finance, Chief Constable Paul Sanford, said then the funding settlement presented “real challenges” for policing and would “inevitably lead to cuts across forces”.
On Thursday, Lincolnshire Police said it has a £14 million funding gap next year, and the force is “exploring options”, including potentially reducing the number of officers by up to 1,000 by 2029.
Essex Police said this week it needed “urgent action” to address a budget shortfall and was looking at axing all police community support officers and reducing the number of staff.
On Friday, Essex Police said the extra £100 million would go “some way” to bridging its £5.3 million funding gap.
“We’ve lobbied hard for this funding to be increased through the consultation period. The decision we announced earlier this week has created concern and has resulted in change,” Roger Hirst, the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the investment in neighbourhood policing marked a “major turning point” for policing.
“This major investment marks a turning point for policing in this country.
“By doubling extra neighbourhood funding to £200 million, we are giving forces across the country what they need to put more officers and PCSOs where they’re needed most – on our streets and in our town centres.
“Every neighbourhood deserves dedicated officers who know their patch, understand residents’ concerns and can tackle problems before they escalate.
“This investment, alongside new powers we are bringing into law, will help prevent crime and protect our communities, which is at the heart of our Plan for Change.
“Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas.”
Dame Diana said more officers on the ground would help to target antisocial behaviour and “record-breaking” levels of shoplifting.
“It’ll help us to start to tackle the problem with retail crime… We know shop thefts have gone up to record-breaking levels. We need to tackle this.
“We need to get that police presence back into our high streets and our communities,” she told GB News.
Measures already announced to target thefts include a specific offence around attacks and assaults on retail workers and removing the £200 limit under which most people are not prosecuted for shoplifting.
Dame Diana said there are also efforts to target “serious organised gangs” that steal from shops.
“So there’s work ongoing, bringing retailers and the police together to use the intelligence about how these serious criminals are actually targeting the retail sector and what more we can do to prevent that.”
The Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley on Thursday confirmed the country’s biggest police force will not make cuts to neighbourhood policing, despite a “stretch in the system”.
The announcement of extra money comes as the final Police Funding Settlement is published on Friday.
Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.5 billion next year, an increase of up to £1.1 billion on the previous year’s settlement.
