CUMBRIA Police Authority has called on the Government not to spike its spending guns next year because communities want more police on the streets and are willing to pay more to achieve it, reports Ellis Butcher.

The authority has formally lodged its appeal against the decision by the Government to "nominate" it for capping for the 2005/2006 financial year.

That happened after Cumbria Police Authority raised its council tax bill by 14.97 per cent for 2004/2005, when the Government said rises should be kept to 13 per cent or under.

The Government said the authority's rise was "excessive" and has started the process which could lead to Whitehall deciding the amount the authority would be allowed to spend in the next financial year.

However, the authority has argued that it had cut its budget to £85.6 million and was just £260,000 over target.

An extensive document outlining the CPA response to the threat of being capped has been sent to London.

A key argument is that financial constraints have caused the scaling down of the Local Policing Team initiative, a programme aimed at putting 300 bobbies back on the streets over four years.

The authority has told the Government that the LPTs were widely welcomed by communities and there was a willingness for council tax payers to pay more for them.

Studies had showed that one of the fears of crime was a public perception of fewer police on the streets.

It also argued that other authority money was committed to spending on projects imposed by the Government, such as the Home Office-sponsored national radio project Airwave, which has been described as "disproportionately expensive" for Cumbria due to the county's terrain.

Noting that the deadline for appeals against nomination needed to be submitted by May 21 the National Day of Prayer for the Police Service - Carlisle-based police authority clerk Clive Alcock wrote: "We hope their prayers add an extra element of charity to the Secretary of State's careful consideration of a detailed representation about vital policing needs needs which, in the final analysis, are those of the people of Cumbria, not the police service itself."

Urging the Government to carefully consider the county's case and not regard it as a "fiscally irresponsible authority," or one that acts alone irrespective of Government guidance, Mr Alcock added: "The Local Policing Team concept has been an outcome of that guidance and major contributor to our financial decisions. It is therefore a major part of our explanation, yet the amount by which our budget is deemed "excessive" is still so small that there are numerous other, individual projects and exceptional items at whose door this amount could be laid. Many of them are items of expenditure imposed by the Government."

Representatives of the authority are due to have a face-to-face meeting with ministers next Tuesday.