Cleveland Police handed an extra £2m after the A66 crash, but the PCC calls it insulting

New £2m funding will help Cleveland Police tackle serious crime

Cleveland Police is set to receive an additional £2m to help tackle serious crime, following the deaths of two officers in a fatal crash, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced.

The extra funding comes after the A66 crash in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, on 22 August, which claimed seven lives. PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough were killed when a car involved in a police pursuit crashed into them. The five men travelling in the vehicle also died.

The new funding is intended to support the force in its efforts to deal with serious and organised crime following the tragedy.

What the extra Cleveland Police money is for

The response from Cleveland Police has already been significant. The force has arrested 27 people over incidents it says are linked to “serious and organised crime”, while around 200 officers from other forces have been brought in to support the local operation.

Police have also been dealing with incidents including homes being rammed and cars being set alight during a vigil.

Announcing the extra funding in the Commons, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the situation had led the government to provide Cleveland Police with a further £2m to tackle serious crime.

“In light of the situation the force has faced, we will allocate an additional £2m to Cleveland Police to tackle serious crime in the area,” she said.

Mahmood also said the government wanted to support the Middlesbrough community as it deals with the deaths and called for discussions around future investment in policing and officer numbers.

But the announcement has faced criticism locally, with Labour’s Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey describing the one-off payment as “insulting” and “performative”.

He argued that it did not address what he called years of “chronic underfunding” and said the force needed at least £20m in additional funding every year to recruit and retain another 200 officers.

Conservative MP Chris Philp also dismissed the £2m as “wholly inadequate”, telling Mahmood that the “lawless gang chaos” should never have been allowed to take hold.