LIKE many areas of the country, Durham lost hundreds of police officers during the austerity years. We’ve been playing catch up ever since. While the uplift of 20,000 officers nationally offered an opportunity to replace some of what had been lost, it wasn’t nearly enough. Not for Durham.

The reality is that we’re still worse off than we were in 2010 – even though the force carries on punching above its weight in terms of performance.

In 2019, Durham had 389 fewer officers than it had in 2010. Even with the recruitment of 225 officers through Uplift, we are still 164 officers short on the ground (-10.9 per cent). And we’re not alone. A further 14 out of 43 forces are in the similar position with Cleveland (-16.6 per cent) Northumbria (-10 per cent) and West Midlands (-10.6 per cent) seeing big deficits in police strength – effectively creating a two tiered police service.

The other 28 forces are the lucky ones – effectively putting them in the first division – have a much better story to tell. Areas like North Yorkshire, for example, which saw a boost of 158 officers compared to 2010 levels (+10.6 per cent). Surrey is another winner which saw its headcount increase by 363 extra officers (+19.2 per cent).

Durham is being short changed, effectively relegated to the second division, and we’re paying the heavy price for an unfair funding formula. Even the current system for raising funds through council tax serves to widen the gulf from force to force with areas like Durham, which has a high proportion of households falling into Council Tax Band A (the lowest), unable to compete with our neighbours.

This highlights the need for a drastic levelling up of the thin blue line. The way things are going the rich forces are getting richer and the poor forces poorer, leading to the creation of a two-tiered police service.

To level up, every force should see the return of police officer numbers to at least 2010 levels. I am encouraging politicians to be as vocal about the paucity of our funding situation as some have been about a defunct concrete mast.

For now, difficult decisions will need to be made to keep us in the game. Difficult but sensible decisions that allow us to make public money go further and protect frontline jobs.

Durham Constabulary continues to achieve some of the best results of any force, which is remarkable given its overall financial handicap. Out of 43 police forces across England and Wales, Durham was one of only two to make the grade in the investigation of serious acquisitive crime (burglary, robbery and theft) by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). It also has the highest resolution rate nationally for robbery, commercial burglary and theft from a motor vehicle and the highest charge rate for rape.

The big question for me is how we stay there and continue to lead from the front? Without a fairer financial level playing field, progress will be much harder. We could do so much more if police funding was equitable across the country and not reliant on local tax payers increasing their contribution.

I may be biased but there’s no better way to demonstrate levelling up than ensuring police strength returns to 2010 levels, especially here in Durham.

L Joy Allen (Labour) is the Durham Police & Crime Commissioner