Federation branch chair Liz Groom says Cambridgeshire Police and the public are paying the price for policing’s ‘deeply unfair’ funding system.
Liz said that new police funding figures show that Cambridgeshire is being short-changed.
“Our officers are dealing with the same pressures and risks as colleagues elsewhere in the country, yet our Force is consistently at the bottom of the funding table,” said the branch chair.
Liz’s comments follow the publication of the net budget requirement and council tax precept for 2026/27 by Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Darryl Preston.
The report, which went before the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel, said that Cambridgeshire Police is set to receive £122.0m in grant funding for 2026/27.
Mr Preston is recommending an increase of 4.99% in the policing element of the council tax precept. The policing precept for council tax for typical Band D properties in Cambridgeshire would rise by £14.94 to £314.37, or by 4.99 per cent. This would take total funding provisionally to £220.6m.
The report also highlighted that Cambridgeshire remains the country’s fourth-lowest funded force by total funding and the fifth-lowest for core grant funding.
Cambridgeshire Police also receives significantly less per capita funding than most of the country, at £247 per resident, compared with the national average of £278. The Force would receive around £28m in additional income if it received the average figure.
When compared to its most similar forces, Cambridgeshire receives the seventh lowest funding per head of population out of eight. If it received the average of these comparator forces, Cambridgeshire would receive around £10.5m more.
Liz said: “It’s clear the funding system is broken. For no real reason, it is penalising Cambridgeshire and undervaluing our overstretched members.
“The case is absolutely clear for ending this postcode lottery, and it needs to happen now, regardless of any government White Paper on police reform.”
Liz said that the majority of police funding should come from central government and not, as is increasingly happening, through the Council Tax.
She said: “Council tax is not based on income, so it is unfair to expect local people to keep plugging the gap left by an unjust national funding system.
“People in Cambridgeshire are paying more for policing through central government and rising Council Tax, while our force remains underfunded.
“This model is unsustainable.”
And Liz renewed her long-standing call for Cambridgeshire Police officers to receive the South East Allowance to bring them in line with colleagues in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
“Cambridgeshire is an expensive county in which to live,” she said. “Many of our members are feeling the strain, yet are working alongside officers from neighbouring forces who are paid more for the same job. That can’t be fair.
“This is yet another example of how Cambridgeshire Police and our members are short-changed. It needs addressing.”