A POLICE force is facing a possible shock £10m budget cut due to an error in the way the Government calculates funding, it has been claimed.

Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg said he was left “angry and bewildered” by the miscalculation and called for the Government to scrap the funding review.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones condemned the cut, which he claimed was equivalent to the loss of 200 police officers.

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However, the Home Office insisted that no final decisions on funding had been taken and said that data and calculations would be “rigorously tested" before any allocations are made.

Earlier this year, the Home Office announced a review of the 10-year-old Police Allocation Formula, the complicated calculation which determines how much cash each force receives from central Government, and launched a consultation process on an alternative funding formula.

However, Mr Hogg claims that on the final day of consultation today an error came to light over the use of the wrong data in calculating “urban adversity”, which would see Durham Constabulary’s grant cut from the current £80m to £70m.

The grant cut does not include any further budget reductions which could be announced in George Osbourne’s Comprehensive Spending Review at the end of this month.

In a strongly-worded letter to the Home Office, Mr Hogg said he was “at a complete and utter loss as to how an error of this magnitude could have been made by your officials”.

Mr Hogg added: “I am both angry and bewildered as to how the Government can say that we can police County Durham and Darlington with £10m less to spend each year.

“I have written to the Government in the strongest terms stating that they should abandon this whole process and leave the current funding formula alone as it is causing too much instability, not only for Durham but also for other forces”.

Last month, Durham was rated the highest performing force in the country and has just begun the process of recruiting an extra 50 officers.

Mr Hogg said continuing that success was dependent on the Government “taking a sensible view" on the level of funding the force needs.

"Currently the Government’s view totally lacks this common sense approach,” he added.

Policing minister Mike Penning MP, said police reform was working and crime was falling.

He said: “If we want policing in this country to be the best it can be, then we must reform further, and that includes putting police funding on a long-term, sustainable footing.

"The current model for allocating police funding, is complex, opaque and out of date.

“That is why we have consulted on principles for reform of funding arrangements for the police in England and Wales, ensuring they are fair, robust and transparent”.

The minister added: “We are refining our proposed model in light of responses to the public consultation and are engaging further with Police and Crime Commissioners and forces as part of this process.

"Allocations for individual police force areas have not been set and decisions on funding will not be made until after the Spending Review reports in November.”

Labour MP Kevan Jones said, “The £10m-a-year Government cut announced today to Durham Constabulary’s budget will put further strains on an already under pressure service.

“A £10m cut equates to the loss of an additional 200 officers in Durham and explodes the myth of the Tories being the party of law and order.

“It also shows how pathetic the Chancellor’s much-vaunted £30m regional funding really is.

“This is the Government giving with one hand, and taking away much more with the other.”