CALLS are being made for the future of police funding to be determined by an independent board.

Last week, the Government suspended a review of the police funding formula, branded as “shambolic” by opponents, when it emerged that Home Office errors would have cost forces across the region millions of pounds.

Now 12 Police and Crime Commissioners, including those representing Durham, Northumbria and North Yorkshire, have written to the Home Office asking for an independent board to be set up to consider police funding.

In a letter to Policing Minister Mike Penning, the PCCs said they agreed the old formula was not fit fur purpose, but added: “to proceed with a new formula that does not enjoy the confidence of PCCs and chief constables would be a mistake.”

Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg said: “The whole process has been a shambles, and I am one of several PCCs who have lost confidence in the ability of the Home Office to construct a funding system which is fair, transparent, and in which we can have confidence.

"That is why I have added my name to the growing chorus of PCCs who would like to see this work carried independently and in the open, taking views from a wide range of sources.

"It is crucial, for instance, that they recognise all the demands placed on the police and not just crime”.