Ahead of Saturday’s rally in Brotton regarding rural policing in East Cleveland, Simon Clarke MP has met both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Police Minister to tell them about community concerns about how Cleveland Police allocates its manpower in his constituency and to ask that whatever extra money exists in the public finances should be made available to support the Police.
Following his meeting with the Chancellor Philip Hammond, Simon has written to the Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid to ask that the issue be looked at as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement in December.
Separately, Simon has replied to a letter from Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger to warn that while he will support extra funding when affordable, he will not accept the PCC saying that this is all about money. In his letter, he says,
“Fundamentally, I believe you are conflating two distinct issues: the overall budget settlement for Cleveland Police and how that resource is then deployed across the different communities for which you and the Chief Constable are responsible. Cleveland Police has a budget of £122 million and the fourth highest ratio of officers to population in England and Wales. People in East Cleveland are not being unreasonable in wanting a couple of dozen more to strengthen police presence there.”
Saturday’s rally will take place outside The Railway Arms in Brotton at 11am. It has been coordinated by Brotton Councillor Barry Hunt and local publican Graham Cutler, who are both angry about the lack of visible policing in the area.
Simon said, “People in East Cleveland want the Force to find a way of delivering a greater presence in their town and villages. I believe that if there’s headroom for more money for the Police, it should be delivered.
“However unlike local Labour MPs, I’m not blind to the consequences for our public finances, and money isn’t the be all and end all here. It’s also about how we distribute our police and the current formula is overwhelmingly skewed towards urban areas. That’s why I’ll be proud to stand with my constituents in Brotton on Saturday and call for a fresh approach.”