MP welcomes funding boost to pay for more police officers on the streets of Milton Keynes

City MP Iain Stewart has today welcomed extra police funding totalling £584.6m for Thames Valley Police, the force that serves Milton Keynes.

The funding is an increase of £38.9m - 7.1% - and part of a total of £843 million package to better protect the public.

It will help ensure that crime is effectively tackled by the police and people are kept safe in Milton Keynes, says the Tory MP, who has not specified how many extra officers will be provided for the city.

Previously opposition councillors in Milton Keynes have queried Conservative’s figures about police officers, accusing them of “not telling the truth”.

Early last year, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber made a public statement claiming the city had benefitted from an additional 61 police officers over the past two years, while the local Conservative party said there were 92.

However, weeks later MK’s ruling Labour and Lib Dem councillors claimed TVP had admitted at a public meeting that only two additional officers had been recruited to cover Milton Keynes.

And they said a Freedom of Information request had revealed that since March 2019 - the date of the last general election - Milton Keynes has gained just 19 more officers.

The councillors argued that the number of police officers on city streets seemed to be falling. The FOI figures showed in January 2022 there were actually five fewer officers in Milton Keynes compared with January 2021.

Labour Councillor Lauren Townsend said at the time: “The Conservatives aren’t telling us the truth about police numbers in Milton Keynes. They can’t even agree themselves if there are 61 or 92 more officers on our streets. The reality is, they are both misleading the public.”

She added: “We know there are not enough police in Milton Keynes... our city is in desperate need of more officers so that we can tackle knife crime properly.”

But Mr Stewart is sticking to his guns. He said this week: “The Conservatives have already delivered on their commitment to recruit 20,000 more police officers, putting more police on our streets and cracking down on crime. Since the Conservatives came to office in 2010, their zero-tolerance approach to crime has worked, with crime down by 50 per cent, excluding fraud. Meanwhile, in areas run by Labour Police and Crime Commissioners, crime was 34 per cent higher last year than in Conservative run areas.”

He said new cash injection was “excellent news” for Milton Keynes.

"This funding, alongside the 784 new police officers in Thames Valley, will make our streets safer and help cut crime...The Conservatives are taking a tough stance on all crime and delivering the long-term decisions needed for a brighter future.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Our communities deserve a well-funded and equipped force, dedicated to making our country safer. “Progress has been made, with overall crime down and 136,000 violent offences prevented since 2019, but we will continue to invest in policing.

“That is why we are putting up to £843 million more into keeping our streets safe, so that every officer and community has what they need to cut crime, protect the public and build confidence in policing.”