THE WAY the government divvies out cash to police forces has been branded 'unfair' by the deputy head of Thames Valley Police.

Matthew Barber, the deputy police and crime commissioner (DPCC) for Thames Valley Police, has said areas with higher crime rates are 'rewarded for failure' because of the system that the government uses to choose where cash is spent.

He said: "The current funding formula rewards failure.

"Funding per head of population varies hugely between police forces. Often those with high rates of crime end up with more funding."

It comes after the DPCC – who is due to take over from Anthony Stansfeld next year – met with Boris Johnson ahead of the announcement of how many officers TVP will get from the PM's promised 20,000.

He said: "I spoke to the new Prime Minister about the unfairness of the current funding formula and pressed for changes to be implemented as soon as possible, to coincide with the increase of police numbers."

He explained that the current 'funding formula' was due an upgrade from the Home Office, but that those plans were put on hold 'some time ago'.

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He added: "I have made the case to the Prime Minister that now is the best time to implement a new formula. At a time when the government is injecting more funding into policing, this is the perfect opportunity to get allocations right.

"This would mean that we do not just see an increase in the number of officers in the short to medium term, but fix the broken financing system for years to come."

Last week Anthony Stansfeld told the Oxford Mail that the new police numbers would 'make good' the last eight years of cuts to the police force.

Meanwhile an MP has sent a letter to the new home secretary in a bid to up the number of police that the county will get.

Victoria Prentis made the case: "In North Oxfordshire we are very lucky to be served by Thames Valley Police. As you know crime rates have fallen under this government, but locally, criminal activities are wide and varied, including county lines, anti-social behaviour and thefts – affecting many of my constituents." She added that she would be 'grateful' if Oxfordshire could get more police and funding.