Extra £100million to be pumped into neighbourhood policing as Starmer desperately tries to quell simmering unrest on Britain’s streets
The Government will put an extra £100million into neighbourhood policing as it seeks to fulfill its pledge to put more officers on the ground.
The figure matches an earlier investment announced in December for England and Wales to put 13,000 more police officers on the streets by 2029.
But forces have warned of difficult times ahead with current funding levels, with some saying they will have to make cuts to officer numbers.
The new investment is scheduled for the next financial year and each police force will set out plans to use it to increase patrols by early spring.
It comes after ministers set out a provisional 3.5% real-terms increase in funding for forces with a £986.9m package in December.
That fell short of the £1.3bn which chief constables said police forces would need to plug funding gaps over the next two years.
National Police Chiefs’ Council 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’.
Lincolnshire Police yesterday said it has a £14m funding gap next year, and the force is ‘exploring options’, including potentially reducing the number of officers by up to 1,000 by 2029.

Yvette Cooper meeting West Yorkshire Police officers in Halifax on December 23
Meanwhile, Essex Police said everyone it employs ‘will be impacted in some way’ by cuts.
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 £200m, 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.’

Senior officers including Met Chief Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) have warned of funding difficulties
The Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley 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 £17.5bn next year.
It comes as concerning new figures showed shoplifting offences have risen by 23 per cent to more than 490,000 a year to hit the highest level since records began.
The shocking data is further proof of Britain’s worsening retail theft epidemic, which an industry body today warned was ‘out of control’.
There were a total of 492,914 offences recorded by police in the year to September, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found – the highest figure since current police recording practices began for the year ending March 2003.
MailOnline recently obtained CCTV footage from shop owners in Surrey that reveals brazen thieves casually stealing hundreds of pounds worth of stock before fleeing with full bags.
Lindsey Kleinlercher, joint owner of gift shop Between The Lines, said shoplifting is now ‘blatant’ across the store’s 18 locations in the south of England – as she hit out at the lack of support from police.
Police recorded 1.8 million theft offences in the year to September, a two per cent increase driven by shoplifting and a 22 per cent rise in crimes involving theft from a person (146,109).
Knife offences and robberies rose by four per cent each.