Cuts to community safety partnership funding for Adur and Worthing

Councillors Val Turner and Dave Simmons, of the Adur & Worthing Safer Communities Partnership, have raised concerns about proposed cuts to its funding.

Cuts to funding for community safety partnership (CSP) work across Adur and Worthing have been described as '˜unwelcome' by councillors.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has carried out a review of the funding formula so it is based on crime rates over the last four years and projected population.

An executive summary of the changes explains how the current system is ‘not objective or transparent’.

While she is proposing to keep the overall level of funding for Sussex at the same level of £583,202 a year for CSPs the new way of calculating need means some areas will gain while others will lose funding in 2019/20.

A fifth of total funding to all CSPs will be retained by Mrs Bourne to be allocated to pan-Sussex commissioning, which will help develop initiatives across the whole county such as tackling anti-social behaviour.

Adur and Worthing is set to be the biggest loser, as it will see its funding from police cut from £95,160 to £53,591.18, a 44 per cent reduction. After the pan-Sussex element is taken off, money directly available to the safer communities partnership will be £42,872.95, a 55 per cent drop.

Councillors Dave Simmons and Val Turner, both from the Adur & Worthing Safer Communities Partnership, said: “We received the Police and Crime Commissioner’s funding proposals for 2019/20 just over a week ago and are currently reviewing them before issuing a detailed response.

“On initial viewing, we are disappointed that the police commissioner has failed to recognise the innovation of our partnership.