The Home Office has announced the Safer Streets fund, launched in 2020 with five different rounds, will not continue into the next financial year.
West Mercia has benefited from millions of pounds of funding over the past four years which has focused on tackling a range of public policing priorities including anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls, and neighbourhood crime.
Responding to the news, Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said:
“Over the past five years, the previous government’s Safer Streets programme has delivered projects that have made a real difference across West Mercia.
“Its legacy is a positive one, and it only highlights that decisions made on a local level about how money from central government should be spent, really works.
“I would urge the current government to learn from that success by ensuring Police and Crime Commissioners continue to be backed with the resources they need to deliver change for local communities.
“Now is not the time for gimmicks and whilst I understand it’s a decision for the government of the day to rebrand and rebadge, it must clearly set out how its future national plans, support work taking place in West Mercia to deliver safer and stronger communities.”