Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matt Storey is fighting for Government reform of its funding formula for policing and victims’ services.
He wants Government funding to be based on need and demand rather than population numbers.
During year ending March 2025, Cleveland had the highest crime rate per head of population of any force in England and Wales. Cleveland suffered 122.1 crimes per 1,000 population compared to the national average of 87.2.
In addition to high crime rates, Cleveland is also home to some of the most chronically deprived communities in the country.
That means if you live in Cleveland, you are more likely to be a victim of crime but less likely to have the resources to recover well from it.
Victim Funding
The Victim support funding formula does not reflect levels of need or demand, only how many people live in the area. That means Cleveland gets:
- Just £7 per crime for victims’ services. That compares to the five forces with the lowest crime rates in England and Wales, who each get £19 per crime
- £3 less per crime than forces with similar levels of offending. Similar forces get on average £10 per crime compared to Cleveland’s £7.
- 4.2% less funding in 2025-26 than it did the previous year to support victims’ services.
Police Funding
With police funding formulas based on population size rather than need, Cleveland is losing out to safer, richer areas. This disparity means:
- A force in England and Wales with half the level of crime as Cleveland receives £20m more in annual funding
- In recent years, Cleveland has had lower funding increases than other forces. If Cleveland received an increase based on the national average, it would have almost £11m per year extra to spend. That would replace the 200 police officers ‘lost’ since 2010.
- The policing precept means people in Cleveland contribute more towards the cost of policing. A Band D property in Cleveland pays £317 for policing per year compared to as little as £195 in some areas. If residents across the country paid the same as Cleveland, there would be an extra £560m nationally to spend on policing.
In addition, the impact of inadequate funding for some forces was highlighted by HMICFRS Inspector Andy Cooke in his 2023 State of Policing report.
Mr Cooke branded the way police funding is distributed as “not fit for purpose” and “needs to be revised.”
He said: “The system of police funding is outdated and unfair. Funding should be distributed so it goes to where it is needed most. But currently, this isn’t the case.”
What the PCC wants
The PCC wants the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to urgently revise current funding formula for victim support.
He wants funding to be allocated on need and in line with crime rates rather than size of population.
The PCC also wants to see the Home Office to revise police funding in line with recent changes announced to local authority and NHS Funding.
Over the coming years, Government changes will mean health service and local authority funding will be targeted at areas of greatest deprivation and need with a focus on community-based services
If the same rules applied to police funding formula that would mean Cleveland would receive more based on crime rates and levels of need.
Following a crash on the A66, which killed police constables Matty Blade and Tom Clough, Matt renewed his calls for fairer funding.
Matt and Chief Constable Victoria Fuller wrote a joint letter to the Home Secretary, asking for fairer, long-term funding.
The letter was counter-signed by the heads of public services across Cleveland
Joint Letter to the Home Secretary for fairer funding – September 2026 (application, 307kB)