West Midlands Police 'disappointed' with funding result

Dec 14 2010 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail

POLICE chiefs in the West Midlands have reacted with “disappointment” after discovering they face a nine per cent budget cut in Government funding over the next two years.

West Midlands Police has been told it will have its budget slashed by four per cent next year and another five per cent the year after.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert said the reductions would be “challenging” but insisted that forces should be able to find savings while protecting frontline services.

But West Midlands Police warned that, while this year’s cuts were in line with what was expected, the cuts for 2011-12 presented “significant further challenges”.

“These cuts will present us with some difficult decisions in the months and years ahead in the way that policing is provided in the West Midlands,” the force said in a statement.