Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl has pledged £1million to continue funding projects designed to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour around the county.
The commissioner made his pledge at a gathering of neighbourhood and community volunteers, ailment at an event to mark the start of his fourth year in office.
The funding will come in the face of probable cuts to his budget, but Mr Surl will tell contributors to his Police and Crime Plan that he won’t pull the rug out from under them, just to plug caps caused by the likelihood of a reduced Government grant.
Mr. Surl said, “It is a significant amount of money but how it is being spent is what is important. The success of these projects is helping to reduce demand on the Police and is an essential element of community policing.
“I have always said communities have an important role to play in reducing crime because the police can’t do it on their own. That’s why I set out to involve community and voluntary sectors in my police and crime plan and I am delighted they have bought into the idea so effectively and with such enthusiasm.
“I believe communities can make an effective contribution towards crime prevention and it’s important they know their funding is secure at least until March 2017 as I have promised from day one. It’s the police and the public working together.”
The Commissioner’s Fund draws on the PCC’s Annual Budget and funding from the Ministry of Justice. Mr. Surl set it up following his election in 2012 to support schemes put forward by local people to make their communities safer. Since then, more than 200 neighbourhood projects and organisations have received funding to help get their ideas off the ground.
Amounts invested in projects specific to each district are as follows:
- Cheltenham £237,514
- Gloucester £945,178
- Cotswolds £145,759.48
- Forest of Dean £138,704
- Stroud £382,736.75
- Tewkesbury £63,399
Each of the funded projects addresses one or more of the Police & Crime Plan priorities. Many of them are financed until 2017 with the goal of being self-sustainable by the end of this period. For that reason, the PCC’s Commissioning Team closely scrutinise all applications seeking a grant, making sure that their initiatives will last even when the funding expires.