Hopes for a more robust crime plan in Bedfordshire thanks to increased funding
The Police and Crime Commissioner announced his budget for the year, taking into account increased government funding
Bedfordshire Police will have a budget of £158 million for the 2025/26 financial year, as announced by Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
The budget includes an increase in government funding and an additional allocation under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee scheme.
PCC John Tizard said: "I am responsible for agreeing the police budget and setting the council tax which in part funds it. The Government funds just under 60% and the council taxpayers fund the remaining 40%.
"After fourteen years of austerity and underfunding, the new government has increased our core grant by 6.6%. No government could have rectified a decade plus of underfunding in one year, but Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary, has signalled a new commitment to work with PCCs and to increase funding."
A key part of this year’s budget is an additional £1.8 million allocated under the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will help strengthen local policing teams.
Mr Tizard explained: "I am working with the Chief Constable to see how quickly and how many officers will be allocated to local policing teams in accordance with demands on Bedfordshire Police and the government rules for the use of the new funding."
The funding is part of a national initiative to recruit 13,000 additional officers over the next four years under the government’s Safer Streets Mission.
Police council tax precept increase
The PCC also confirmed an increase in the policing precept of council tax by 5.3%, in line with government expectations.
“Any smaller increase would have resulted in harmful cuts and reductions in future years’ government grants,” he said.
However, Bedfordshire is still waiting for confirmation on special grants for tackling serious organised gang crime, which account for 5% of the force’s total budget.
Budget allocation and priorities
The PCC outlined how the £158 million budget will be spent:
£35 million on local policing, including response patrols and community policing
£15.5 million on public protection services, including teams for domestic abuse, child protection, and serious sexual offences
£42 million on tackling serious and organised crime, including Bedfordshire’s contribution to the Eastern Regional Serious Organised Crime Unit
Additional funds will go toward specialist services such as armed policing, traffic policing, forensics, and major crime investigations, which Bedfordshire Police collaborates on with Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire forces.
Ensuring 'value for money'
Mr Tizard stressed his commitment to efficiency and productivity, and said: "The approach to the budget is that there is a Police and Crime Plan, there are policing objectives, and there is a national policing strategy.
"We have to attempt to ally the allocation of resources against all of those.”
He continued: “I hold the Chief Constable responsible for managing the budget effectively and efficiently.
"Each month I review both financial and operational performance rigorously. I am determined to improve productivity and have required that every budget line can be justified to prove value for money and public benefit.”
Despite the additional government funding and council tax increase, some budget cuts of just over £2 million will still be necessary. Mr Tizard assured that these cuts will have “minimal effect directly on the public.”
Long-term funding challenges
Bedfordshire has long faced financial challenges due to how its funding is calculated.
"Bedfordshire has the lowest national funding from government of any police service in the country per head of population, and that’s been the case for several decades," explained Mr Tizard. "It’s something I hope we can turn around over the lifetime of this Parliament.”
He also pointed out a misclassification in how Bedfordshire is viewed for funding purposes: “Bedfordshire is deemed to be rural, so we get funding on the same basis as, say, Lincolnshire or Cumbria. Now, anyone who knows Bedfordshire knows the socioeconomic demographics are a bit different. The crime profile is very different. Luton is a Metropolitan borough, but it happens to be in Bedfordshire.”