3,500 police jobs could also be minimize as Rachel Reeves’ tax seize threatens funding for cops

Police numbers could be slashed by up to 3,500 next year after ministers signed off a funding package that makes cuts ‘inevitable’.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson yesterday revealed that forces will receive a £1billion boost, which will be paid for in part by an average £14 levy on council tax bills.

But critics warned that much of the money will be eaten up by rising costs, including the Budget raid on employers’ National Insurance, which will cost forces £230million next year.

Tory analysis of the package warned that forces face a funding gap of £218million next year, equal to the cost of employing 3,500 officers.

And the National Police Chiefs’ Council said the gap could be as much as £1.3billion over the next two years.

Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford, who speaks for the body on finance issues, described the funding package as ‘challenging’ and said cuts were ‘inevitable’.

Mr Sanford warned that a Government focus on neighbourhood policing would leave forces ‘unable to invest in other specialist areas of policing that are critical to our service’.

And on the estimated funding gap, he added: ‘The settlement announced today presents real challenges for policing. This will inevitability lead to cuts across forces.

Police numbers could be slashed by up to 3,500 next year after ministers signed off a funding package that makes cuts ‘inevitable’. The new deal will be paid for in part by an average £14 levy on council tax bills. Pictured: Chancellor Rachel Reeves

Dame Diana Johnson acknowledged that £230million of the new settlement will have to be used to cover the increase in employers’ NI imposed in the Budget

‘Crime is evolving at a rapid pace and becoming more complex. At a time when community needs have never been greater, we cannot afford to cut back our resources.’ 

Police forces have warned for weeks that soaring costs could force them to slash officer numbers next year.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said last week that 2,300 officers in the capital may have to go in 2025 due to a budget shortfall.

Having fewer neighbourhood police would be embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer, who has made increasing their numbers one of his core ‘missions’ for Government.

Dame Diana told MPs yesterday that police forces will receive a total funding boost of £987million next year, which she said would amount to a real-terms increase of 3 per cent.

This includes £100million to recruit more neighbourhood police, but the number could be dwarfed by cuts to police manpower elsewhere.

Around a third of the package relies on forces increasing their council tax precepts by the equivalent of £14 on an average Band D bill, which will raise £330million.

But Dame Diana acknowledged that £230million of the new settlement will have to be used to cover the increase in employers’ NI imposed in the Budget.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said last week that 2,300 officers in the capital may have to go in 2025 due to a budget shortfall

She said that the overall package ‘strikes the balance between protecting taxpayers and providing funding for police forces’.

Roger Hirst, Tory police and crime commissioner for Essex, said the settlement was ‘not enough to meet pay and inflationary pressures’.

And this was echoed by Tory home affairs spokesman Chris Philp, who said that the increase in police funding would not be enough to cover the rising costs imposed by the Budget and inflation-busting pay rises.

He added: ‘Labour have no plan to ensure law and order in this country. They threw open the prison doors and now they risk axing 3,500 officers from front-line duty.’