Stephen Metcalfe, Member of Parliament for South Basildon and East Thurrock, has welcomed the news of a substantial £23 million increase in police funding for Essex Police. The increase will enable a further 215 frontline police officers to be recruited on top of the 150 additional officers recruited last year.
The Government has announced that it will increase total police funding up to £920 million taking the total available investment into policing in England and Wales to £14 billion for 2019/20. Total resource funding (including pensions grant) for Essex Police will increase from £275.9 million in 2018/19 to £298.8 million in 2019/20. This is a cash increase of £23 million.
The further increase to Essex Police funding follows lobbying from Essex MPs. The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hirst, had his budget approved at the end of January meaning an additional 215 frontline police officers can now be recruited. The 150 new officers recruited last year are now trained and arriving at communities across the county.
The recruitment of 365 new police officers is the largest increase in police numbers in Essex for over a decade.
