Forces to receive £60m to cover Covid-19 costs
Police forces across England and Wales are to be reimbursed with £60 million to cover the cost of increased enforcement of coronavirus rules, Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced.
The majority of the money – £58 million – will be made available to help pay for costs incurred by police due to the pandemic, including overtime and making police stations Covid-secure.
It brings the total amount of funding available to forces since the start of the pandemic to nearly £200 million.
From Monday (February 15), some forces will also assist with further increased presence and enforcement of regulations at airports and ports, to ensure travellers are complying with the new border health measures.
Additional officers will be deployed at airports and ports to support the enforcement of these regulations, including checking the reason for passengers’ journeys and helping ensure compliance of arrivals from ‘red-list’ countries who will be part of the mandatory quarantine scheme announced by the Government this week.
Forces involved in these efforts will receive a share of £2 million to help cover costs of this additional activity to the end of March.
The overall funding, which covers the financial year 2020/21, will allow forces to maintain and, where necessary, increase capacity to continue enforcement of the regulations.
