Local MP Paula Sherriff, herself a former police employee, has slammed the government after revealing they have cut West Yorkshire Police funding by £10.5m in real terms for the current financial year.

The figures were exposed by House of Commons Library research comparing the grants made to each constabulary by the Home Office to rising costs over the same period.

West Yorkshire Police suffered the largest real-terms cash cut outside the major forces of London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

The analysis also showed that the West Yorkshire Police grant for the previous year amounted to a real terms of cut of £4m, leaving the constabulary nearly £15m worse off since Theresa May became Prime Minister in 2016.  

Since the Tories came to office in 2010, West Yorkshire Police has lost 1162 officers, meaning the area has lost more than a quarter of the police patrolling local streets.

Former Chancellor George Osborne had promised in the 2015 spending review that: “there will be no cuts in the police budget at all. There will be real-terms protection for police funding”.

The Chancellor found no new Government funding for the police in last week’s budget, despite warnings from the police that the current budget settlement risks forces losing a further 6,000 officers.

Labour MP for Dewsbury, Mirfield Denby Dale and Kirkburton, Paula Sherriff said:

“This budget risks breaking the police with yet more cuts to the frontline. I know from residents reports of their experiences, just what an impact this has already had on the ability of our local police to do their job.

“People in our area and across West Yorkshire, will be shocked that even with crime rocketing and police numbers already declining, there is even worse to come. It is time that the Tory government started to give West Yorkshire Police the resources and the officers they need to fight crime and anti-social behaviour.”  

Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Policing Minister and another Yorkshire MP, said:

“This budget proves the government cannot be trusted to keep our communities safe.

“Thanks to years of Conservative cuts, police numbers are at historic lows, at a time when crime is rocketing. You can’t protect the public on the cheap.

“This is the grim legacy of seven years of Tory austerity; dedicated police officers fighting hard to keep the public safe with the fewest officers per head on record. Labour will recruit another 10,000 new police officers to help keep us safe.”

Before being elected, Paula Sherriff was a civilian police staff member running an award-winning service supporting victims of crime.