IN reply to Gordon Cann (‘Concerned by police sponsor’, Letters May 17), I need to start by saying that if the force received a fair share of funding, I wouldn't be forced to explore new ways of bringing in money through income generation or sponsorship.

I am not asking the government to spend more money on policing, but I am asking them to allocate Dorset a fairer “slice of the pie”. The fact is that Dorset is the worst funded force in England and Wales and the funding formula used by the government is inconsistent and unfair to rural forces.

The issue of sponsorship for policing isn’t new anyway. The Metropolitan Police have received £23million in the past five years, but to some extent it occurs in Dorset already, for example, with a police van in West Dorset sponsored by a housing association in accordance with a sponsorship policy agreed by the previous police authority.

I welcome public views about sponsorship. In that regard, I am working hard to provide new opportunities to engage with the public, for example through a series of PCC forums and surgeries. My next forum takes place at Poole this month.

It could be many months or longer before specific sponsorship proposals are fully formed, but in the meantime I am pleased to provide reassurance that I will consult the public extensively long before any final agreements are reached. My own approach to sponsorship will simply formalise a system that is already being carried on in “pockets” all over the country, and will be designed to ensure that the dignity and integrity of the police are protected and preserved.

Some people have referred to sponsorship as “privatisation through the back door”. In terms of my own plans, nothing could be further from the truth. I do not condone privatisation of policing, and I can be clear that any potential sponsor considered by me would have no connection to the criminal justice system, in a private or public setting.

If the government gave the people of Dorset a fairer allocation of the budget, sponsorship would remain on the shelf. Until I achieve that outcome, I owe it to the people of Dorset to explore alternatives.

MARTYN UNDERHILL, Police and Crime Commissioner