CLEVELAND Police's newest chief constable Richard Lewis revealed yesterday that the force had been sitting on a significant amount of money – despite claims it was under-funded.

The most senior police officer, who took over in April, said he had a responsibility to spend the taxpayers' cash on frontline services, and was using it to recruit another 100 police officers, aside from the extra recently promised by central government.

Politicians have reacted with shock to the damning verdict on the force by the police inspectorate the HMICFRS, which is the worst report any force has faced.

Cleveland Police is now in the equivalent of special measures, with the Home Office, College of Policing and HMICFRS working closely with Mr Lewis to turn it around.

Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger said the verdict has come as 'no surprise' as he said his scrutiny processes had highlighted the problems before the inspection.

HM inspector Phil Gormley told The Northern Echo: "There have been leadership issues, around the performance of senior leaders. There have been three chief constables in very quick succession and there have been high levels of instability at the top of the organisation. Cleveland's plans and processes will now be subject to much greater scrutiny."

He said claims in the report that senior officers had misled the HM inspectors 'is a matter for the chief constable. We are not conducting a misconduct investigation'.

Mr Coppinger said he planned to stand again in his role, and said while he appreciated the issue wasn't just about funding, 500 police officers and 50 PCSOs had been lost to the force.

He welcomed the report, saying it was an accurate assessment of Cleveland Police, but said the force faced great challenges in terms of other services being cut back and said it should be funded like a metropolitan area.

Mr Lewis said he had already begun to change the structure of the organisation, which was one of the major issues, and said: "It is my responsibility to fix this. I will fix it.

"There is no reason why we can't be an outstanding force like Durham. I have a plan to make sure we can and we will look back at this period in Cleveland as part of our history."

He said Cleveland had not understood its own demand, and that senior people within the organisation hadn't been held to account for their performance.

"Governance isn't an interesting subject for most people but we had to check who was running this place," he said. "That has been a painful experience for some people that they are now being held to account for their performance on a monthly basis.

"Senior leaders have to take responsibility because I can't do it all myself."

He praised rank and file officers within the organisation and said they deserved strong leadership.

His plans include improving services for domestic abuse victims, changing stop and search scrutiny procedures, and an ambitious plan to recruit enough black and ethnic minority officers to become the first force in the country to be truly representative of the community it serves.

He said cutting crime was his first priority, and also improving counter-corruption procedures.

He told The Northern Echo: "There was money in the budget that wasn't being spent and I am now doing everything I can to spend money on front line services. I am recruiting these 100 new officers. If we are collecting tax money we have a responsibility to spend it."

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “This report describes the worst findings every into any police force in the country. This is finally the official validation that local people have known for years - that the force is broken. It’s no longer in dispute. It is a fact described in black and white in this report.

“The findings are some of the most distressing and shocking I have ever read.

“It’s no longer good enough to say that lessons will be learned and that this is all in the past. This is an excuse. Barry Coppinger and senior officers at Cleveland Police will try and deflect responsibility by using these pathetic excuses and we can’t allow this to happen. There’s nowhere left to hide and the people of Teesside deserve better than this joke of a Police and Crime Commissioner. It’s time for the Home Office to intervene. If this report had been in reference to the Met this would be a national scandal. We shouldn’t be treated any differently because we’re in the North East. We deserve better.”

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough, said: “This is a deeply worrying report and has to be received and accepted with the utmost seriousness. The report, coming so soon after a good report from the Inspectorate, gives rise for considerable concern as to exactly what has happened over such a relatively short period to bring about such a rapid deterioration.

"This report effectively gives Cleveland Police a blue print or a route map to improved and better performance. I have met with Chief Constable Richard Lewis on a number of occasions since his appointment and I extremely confident that he is the person to secure the changes that are needed in our Police Force."

Steve Matthews⁩, Former Chairman of Cleveland Police Federation, said: "Former and serving cops in Cleveland Police served with pride and do not deserve the sadness of poor leadership this report articulates.

"Victims of crime are let down. Police officers are without strong and ethical leadership. The public not as safe as they should be.

"Through seven Chief Constables the oversight by Police & Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger is identified with abstract failure. He must take responsibility and stand down.

"The future of policing in the area hangs in the balance. We need new leadership to bring back pride in policing an trust in police officers."