Bedfordshire residents denied a fair deal as front line policing suffers

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have responded to the news that Bedfordshire Police has been branded the poorest performing force in England and Wales, by calling on the government to start giving local residents in Bedfordshire a fair deal for policing.

Commenting on the issue, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Michael Headley said:

"The data in the Home Office Assessment is of real concern, and it brings into sharp focus the need for the government to start giving Bedfordshire residents a fair deal on policing. Even under the recognised formula used to calculate police funding, Bedfordshire Police has received £4.27m less than its standard entitlement and has also had to find £400,000 to police Luton Airport. This is an extremely significant amount of money for one of the smallest police forces in the country.'

"The under-funding of our local police force mirrors the situation with the NHS, where local residents are poorly served by this government and see local services unnecessarily placed under threat.'

"I am pleased to see that the force has implemented several changes since the data for this report was gathered, including the internal force restructuring. It is clear that the force needs to press on with improvements, as the report does highlight that there is much work to be done."