An investigation by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the Police and Crime Commissioner in Hampshire spent £7 million since 2019.

The Lib Dems discovered through freedom of information requests that PCCs across England and Wales have cost the taxpayer a total £102.2 million in the last four years. 

This includes office costs, staff and expenses.

The Hampshire PCC cost £7.4 million since 2019.

Winchester Lib Dem election candidate Danny Chambers said: “It is shocking to see the local Conservative politician in charge of policing wasting so much money on office costs. We have lost valuable community police officers who fight crime and catch criminals, whilst the Conservative commissioner pockets millions to run an office. Frankly, I think this is scandalous.

“People in Winchester tell me crimes are going unsolved and that they never see a police officer anymore. It is time we scrapped this pointless pencil pushing role and put money back into proper community policing.”

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A spokesman for the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner said: “The Police and Crime Commissioner spends £2.28 million per year on staffing costs, which includes a specialist analytical team which provide data to the Home Office. 

“The current spend on the office is just 0.5 per cent per year of the total spend on policing. Prior to PCCs being introduced, police authorities were in place to carry out the same role, therefore there has always been a cost for this function. Comparably, more than £400million per year is spent directly on policing services.

“Shortly after Donna Jones took office in May 2021, she undertook an efficiency drive to cut office costs, making redundancies and moving her office to a cheaper location, saving more than £600k per year. This was done in order to pay for more police officers and get rid of waste. 

“It is also worth noting that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is one of the largest forces in the country and Hampshire and Isle of Wight OPCC unlike many other OPCCs, manage the whole of the police estate, which is hundreds of buildings, and requires staff to maintain. 

“The force has just recruited 600 more police officers for local communities and PCSO numbers have not been cut, some PCSOs move on to become police officers and this leaves vacancies, but the force is still recruiting.”