Cleveland Police chief says force is being ‘let down’ by funding

Cleveland Police’s chief constable has said she is proud of her officers but believes the force is being systematically let down by chronic underfunding — and that a radical structural solution may be the only way forward.

Victoria Fuller told the BBC that Cleveland Police, one of the smallest territorial forces in England, doesn’t have the financial resources it needs to deliver the level of policing communities in Teesside, Hartlepool and the surrounding areas deserve. Her comments have reignited a debate about whether smaller regional forces can survive in their current form.

A force under pressure

Cleveland Police covers a population of around 570,000 people across a relatively compact but complex area that includes some of the most deprived communities in the country. Fuller said officers are working hard every single day under difficult conditions. But hard work, she made clear, can only go so far when the money simply isn’t there.

The force has faced repeated financial scrutiny in recent years. It was placed into special measures by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services in 2022, though it has since made measurable progress. Fuller took charge in 2023 and has been credited with stabilising the organisation. Still, she’s not pretending everything is fine.

The case for a larger strategic force

Fuller’s proposed solution is blunt: Cleveland Police should become part of a larger, regional force with greater resources and a wider operational footprint. She argues that merging with neighbouring forces would unlock economies of scale, better specialist capability and more sustainable long-term funding.

It’s a controversial idea. Policing in England and Wales has been organised around 43 territorial forces since 1974, and any suggestion of merger tends to meet resistance — from local politicians worried about accountability, and from officers who fear losing a distinct identity tied to their communities.

But Fuller isn’t backing down. She told the BBC the current model is struggling to cope with modern demands, including serious organised crime, cyber threats and the growing complexity of safeguarding work.

Political response

A Home Office spokesperson said the government remains committed to working with all forces to ensure they have what they need to keep communities safe, adding that decisions about force structures are kept under ongoing review. That’s unlikely to satisfy Fuller or the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, which has also flagged funding concerns in recent budget submissions.

Cleveland’s police precept — the portion of council tax that funds the force — is already among the higher rates in the region, meaning there’s limited room to raise more locally without hitting residents already facing significant cost-of-living pressures.

What comes next

Whether Fuller’s call for structural reform gains traction nationally remains to be seen. The government hasn’t signalled any immediate appetite for a wide-scale review of force boundaries. And with a spending review expected later this year, policing budgets across England and Wales are facing fresh uncertainty.

For now, Fuller says her officers will keep showing up. She just wants someone to make sure the system around them doesn’t keep letting them down.