IT WOULD be disappointing if Wiltshire had been penalised for being too safe, a police authority member said.

The Home Office has announced the funding settlement for police forces across the country and Wiltshire is getting £62.9m for its fight against crime.

The figure got a mixed response locally because although the settlement is not as bad as it could have been it is still not a good as other comparable forces.

The settlement first announced in draft form last month will see the force receiving an extra £2.3 million in 2005/06 compared with this year.

But the figures, which are 3.9 per cent higher than last year's, are still below the 5.7 per cent level, which the Association of Chief Police Officers warned was needed to prevent cuts to frontline policing.

Coun Brian Ford, who is a member of Wiltshire Police Authority and chairman of the finance and major projects committee, said: "It is better than we expected but not as good as other like forces in the country.

"We are currently consult-ing a budget at three different rates but we are budgeting for a precept of under five per cent.

"It would be disappointing if Wiltshire was penalised financially for being the best."

Bertie Woolnough, chair-man of the police authority, said he was both pleased and disappointed.

He said: "The police grant figures announced today are similar to December.

"The settlement for Wilt-shire is better than we had feared but not as good as would have liked.

"We have worked with the force to prepare a draft budget for 2005/6, and the Chief Constable will present the draft budget on February 10 for the approval of the full police authority."

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said, nationally, this year's police grant had risen to 4.4 per cent but the overall increase will be 6.7 per cent.

She said: "We are putting substantial extra cash directly into police forces including an extra £350 million in police grant."

She added the settlement was generous enough to prevent police forces requesting cash hikes from council taxpayers.

"If police authorities deliver efficiency gains and exercise judicious financial planning, there is no reason for them to set excessive increases," she said.

Wiltshire is now officially the safest county in England and Wales and Swindon is one of the most crime-free towns of its size.

Anthony Osborne