Police set to be awarded extra £17m to tackle crime in South Yorkshire

Home Office figures reveal that the county’s police force is expected to receive £314.3 in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to £297.1 received for 2021/22.

A total of £16.9 billion has been made available for policing in England and Wales – a seven per cent increase on last year.

Home Office figures also reveal that so far, 11,053 of the 20,0000 extra police officers pledged by March 2023 have been recruited so far – 55 per cent of the total.

South Yorkshire Police has an extra 300 police officers now compared to last year.

FUNDING: South Yorkshire police boss expecting a "tight settlement" from the government to fund the force next year

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said: “Crimes including theft, burglary and knife crime are down, we’ve got an additional 11,053 police officers on our streets, and we’ve shut down 1,500 drugs lines which exploit the young and the vulnerable.

“But we must go further and faster to make our communities even safer, so today I am giving our excellent police forces and law enforcement agencies more funding to do just that, in line with our Beating Crime Plan.

“Reducing crime is a top priority for this Government and I will continue working with police leaders to ensure this unprecedented investment results in less crime and fewer victims.”

Police and Crime Minister, Kit Malthouse, said: “Police officers in Yorkshire and Humber are doing great work pursuing drug gangs, protecting vulnerable people from harm and tackling neighbourhood crimes such as theft. This cash injection means that can clamp down on the crimes that really matter to people with even more determination.

“Police forces in Yorkshire and Humber have already benefitted from extra officers being out on the streets after more than 11,000 have been hired to forces across England and Wales over the last two years, helping to drive crime down.

“This increase in funding will see even more officers hired to tackle crime, continue to remove weapons from our streets and support communities to feel safer.”

National Police Chiefs' Council Lead for Finance, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, said: “We welcome the certainty provided to policing by the recent multi-year settlement, and investment in additional officers.

“The confirmation of funding announced today will allow forces to focus additional resources into tackling priority crime areas for the public, such as targeting those that perpetrate violence against women and girls, county lines drug gangs and serious violent crime.”

Chief Constable Andy Marsh, College of Policing CEO, said: “More funding to support policing is welcome as the service continues to work relentlessly to prevent crime and protect the public.

“The additional police officers coming into the service will strengthen the existing workforce and allow forces to make decisions on how best to use this resource to keep the public safe.

“The demands and complexity of policing are changing and it is important that forces have the resource to continue tackling traditional crime types such as burglary, while also listening to the public and renewing our focus to better protect women and girls, improve diversity and build trust.”

The publication of the provisional funding settlement opens a period of consultation. The final police funding settlement will be debated in Parliament ahead of the new financial year.