Dear editor
I’m pleased to see that the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner agrees with me that his Government need to fund our force properly.
Read: PCC grateful that Bedfordshire MPs have raised force’s funding concerns in Parliament
But I’m not sure he grasps that this needs to happen before he raises council tax for my constituents.
I’m still awaiting a response to a letter I wrote to him last week on this issue but I am concerned that there seems to be no clarity on exactly what he’s raising the precept for and how he’s calculated it.
Mr Akinbusoye says I can’t expect him to fix the police funding formula within six months, but he’s not hesitated in asking my constituents to pay more to plug the funding gaps his Government has created.
Just last week, the policing minister admitted their funding formula is broken.
If my constituents are being asked to pay more to fix their problem, where is the cost benefit analysis? If the council tax precept is raised by £10, we deserve to know exactly what this extra money will be used for because I know my constituents want more officers on the street.
Mr Akinbusoye suggests if Bedfordshire Police are funded as they should be, then it means removing funding from other police forces.
As MP for Bedford and Kempston, my priority is getting the funding that Bedfordshire needs and I’d have hoped the PCC for Bedfordshire would share that priority.
Yours sincerely
Mohammad Yasin MP (Labour)
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