THE funding formula for police forces is “unfair”, the Home Office has admitted – after protests that part of the North-East is penalised.

Ministers announced a quickfire review of the rules ahead of announcing grant allocations for the next financial year, when further hefty cuts are expected.

In the Commons, policing minister Mike Penning said: “Cleveland may do better. There will be winners and losers – but, hopefully, it will be fairer.”

The move follows last month’s verdict by the National Audit Office, which highlighted how some North-East forces had been hit the hardest by cuts since 2010.

Funding fell by an average of 18 per cent in real-terms, but by more in Durham (20 per cent) and Northumbria (23 per cent) – because those forces receive far more of their cash from the Home Office.

In contrast, Surrey (12 per cent), Lincolnshire, Warwickshire and Norfolk (all (14 per cent) and Dorset (15 per cent) all escaped the worst of the pain.

North Yorkshire also lost 15 per cent of its resources, while Cleveland lost the national average of 18 per cent.

During Home Office questions, Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald demanded changes to the “grossly unfair funding formula”, contrasting Cleveland’s position with Surrey’s.

The Labour MP said: “Cleveland has one of the highest number of crimes per head and has had a reduction in overall funding of 18 per cent.

“This shows how Cleveland has been disadvantaged by the cuts, which have been made with no count of local need or circumstances.”

In reply, Mr Penning said: “We will consult this summer, so we have a fairer formula than we inherited from the party opposite.

“I hope we can announce, in the next few weeks, the consultation process, and then go forward.”

The minister gave no clues about how the formula might be changed, admitting it was a “very tight timescale” to make the switch before allocations are announced for next April.

However, the Home Office is under fierce pressure from Conservative MPs to rejig the rules in favour of rural forces, which could penalise England’s big cities.

They argue the formula fails to take into account the extra costs of policing over longer distances, or the number of holiday visitors that many rural areas attract.

However, rewriting the formula while making big cuts – the same scenario facing schools’ funding - may prove highly controversial

The NAO warned of “degrading services” over the next few years, because the Home Office lacks information about the impact of future cuts.

But, only last month, Home Secretary Theresa May accused the Police Federation of “crying wolf” about the impact of fresh funding cuts, pointing out crime has fallen.