Farron - New figures reveal just how underfunded our local police are

South Lakes MP Tim Farron says that figures released today highlight the severe funding problems facing Cumbria Police.

In an attempt to pass the blame for rising crime rates onto local Police and Crime Commissioners, the Government have today released figures which set out how much individual police forces have in reserves.

However, the figures reveal just how little Cumbria Police have to work with, as they currently have the joint second lowest reserves out of all the police forces across the country.

Tim said: "Crime across the country is continuing to rise at an alarming rate.

"The publication of the reserve figures is an attempt by the Government to pass the buck onto local Police and Crime Commissioners, but instead they've just highlighted how seriously underfunded our police force are.

"The new figures reveal that Cumbria Police have the joint second lowest reserves in the country, meaning they have no financial wriggle room at all.

"The Government can't disguise the fact that heavy cuts to local police forces have had a devastating effect both on the front line and behind the scenes, and are putting local people's lives at risk as a result."