STOURBRIDGE’S MP does not believe the cuts to West Midlands Police’s budget will have a detrimental impact on local policing in the town.

Cuts in budgets look set to cause a reduction in PCSO numbers across the Midlands, with top officers saying 2,500 jobs need to go in the next five years, as the force seeks ways to save £130m.

The force is currently carrying out a spending review and neighbourhood policing is under the spotlight as chiefs struggle to balance the books.

However, Margot James MP for Stourbridge said even though the reduction to the region’s police budget have been “quite significant” over the past five years, they have not had an effect on the crime prevention.

Ms James said: “Crime has fallen by 17 per cent since 2010 and Dudley is one of the least crime ridden boroughs of the West Midlands, with Stourbridge very low down on that list.

"So far the reduction in police budgets have been quite significant, but it has not had an effect on the crime prevention in Stourbridge.

“However, the budget reductions could hit a point when they do start to have an adverse effect on crime.

“Fortunately we have not hit that point yet, and I cannot see the recent reduction of five per cent being a problem either.”

The planned reduction of West Midlands Police staff will make the force smaller than it was when it formed in 1974. The first results of the spending review will be announced in the autumn and although bosses say the public will not see a dramatic difference, changes are unavoidable.

Chief constable Chris Sims, said: “By 2020 WMP will have reduced by almost 45 per cent over a decade.

“I am confident though that policing will continue to protect the public but how services may look and be delivered will have to alter.

“The autumn won’t see a suddenly different force but we will be able to outline to the public and begin testing, our proposed new ways of working.”

The National Audit Office, an independent body set up by Parliament to scrutinise public spending, recently reported West Midlands Police has been a victim of unfair funding cuts.

The force has seen cuts of 23 per cent over the past five years, while funding for Surrey Police has decreased by 12 per cent during the same time period.

Ms James added: “The West Midlands has been hit unfairly compared to Surrey, which always gets brought up as it is an anomaly, but not compared to the rest of the country.

“But I do think the funding distribution method is generating unfairness and it is something that does need to be improved.”