Police cuts: MPs accuse Home Office of presiding over funding 'shambles'

Department blunder meant many forces were given wildly wrong figures for their spending in 2016-17

The blunder meant many police forces were given wildly wrong figures for their spending in 2016-17 (Getty)

The Home Office is accused by MPs today of presiding over a police funding “shambles” when it told forces they would be allocated more money when they actually faced cuts.

The blunder, which was uncovered by the Independent last month, meant many forces were given wildly wrong figures for their spending in 2016-17.

The Commons Home Affairs Committee called for an independent panel of accounting firms and financial experts to be drafted in to sort out the mess.

Ministers were forced to call a halt to the reform of the formula in November.

Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, said the pause was necessary as the errors made had “gravely damaged” confidence in the process.

He said the Home Office had been right to overhaul the formula, but then failed to involve police chiefs with the review.

“Police forces found themselves on a roller-coaster, where at the stroke of a pen they saw their funding allocation plummet in some cases and rise meteorically in others, with nobody able to explain why. It would be charitable to call it a shambles.”