In the House of Commons on Monday, the Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, Mike Penning, was asked to make a statement on the police funding formula calculation errors.
Mr Penning said: “I am sad to say that during this process a statistical error was made in the data used. The data does not change the principles consulted on and the allocation provided to the forces was never indicative, but we recognise that this has caused great concern to police forces around the country. I and the Government regret the mistake, and I apologise to the House and to the 43 authorities I wrote to during the extended consultation period as part of the funding formula review.
“For that and other reasons, the Government are minded to delay the funding formula changes for 2016-17 that we had previously intended to make, and we will seek the views of the police and crime commissioners and the National Police Chiefs Council before going any further.
“It is essential that we come to a funding formula that is not only fair, transparent and matched by demand, but supported by the police.”
Tony Hogg said: “The funding formula was descending into chaos, and the Government’s decision to delay is the right one.
“My excellent team has worked on the Government’s proposals for the past five months. They have submitted two detailed sets of proposals and engaged with the Home Office on a number of occasions.
“However, they remained tenacious and continued to badger away at irregularities. Two weeks ago they told the Home Office that they could not reconcile their data and last Monday my chief executive wrote setting out this position formally.
“It was this determination that finally caused the Home Office to admit their error. Even after that, it was down to my team to work out what huge impact it meant for individual police forces.”
It is still unclear what the next stages in the formula review will be.
Mr Hogg added: “We stand ready to work with ministers to create a formula that accurately reflects policing demand. For Devon and Cornwall that means one which will reflect the demands created by being a large rural force with large tourist numbers.
“My chief executive has already been in touch with Home Office officials to offer the expertise that has been built up down here to ensure that the next process is significantly better.”