HAMPSHIRE police chiefs breathed sighs of relief after the Chancellor George Osborne scrapped plans for further cuts to the force’s budget.

They had feared that last Wednesday’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement would set the scene for yet more cutbacks - but with the emphasis on delivering both economic and national security, it appears their calls for reprieve have been heard.

Commenting on the unexpected announcement, Hampshire’s Chief Constable Andy Marsh said it was the public who were “the real winners” in George Osborne’s decision.

In thanking all those who had helped to make Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s case, Mr Marsh added: “Crime is changing and so is policing.

“The cuts of recent years have been hard and there remain difficult times ahead, but we must now take this opportunity.

“To meet the needs of the victims of tomorrow and to build morale among police officers and staff, we must keep innovating.

“This will create a sustainable future, where we can deliver an even better service for a public whose expectations will have gone up as a result of this decision.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Hayes said that, having called on the Government not to cut police funding any further, he was pleased that “the danger to public safety, from more cuts, had now been recognised”.

East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement. “This Autumn Statement demonstrates that security remains the Government’s top priority and stays central to policy making,” he said.

“This means protecting economic security by taking the difficult decisions to live within our means and bring our debts down, and protecting national security by defending Britain’s interests abroad and keeping people safe at home.”

He explained that public spending plans set out in the Spending Review meant that there should be a surplus of £10.1bn in 2019-2020, which is higher than was forecast at the Budget, “propelling Britain out of the red and into the black”.

The Spending Review also announced there would be no cuts in the police budget with real-terms protection for police funding, and confirmed the Government’s commitment to spend two per cent of the national income on defence.

There were a number of elements in the Autumn Statement and Spending Review of particular note for East Hampshire, which Mr Hinds described as “an area that contributes to the £228bn generated by the South East for the national economy - that’s £20bn more than in 2010 - and is part of a region with the lowest rate of unemployment in the country”.

It includes confirmation that Whitehill and Bordon will be included in a wider multi-site Enterprise Zone, along with Chertsey and Basingstoke, which is considered “a major boost for attracting inward investment to the town”.

Plus, protection of the basic per student funding in sixth-form colleges, as well as real-terms protection of the schools budget which, Mr Hinds said, was “especially significant for Hampshire because almost all sixth-form education is in sixth-form colleges”.

There are also a series of measures to widen home ownership, including extensions of Help to Buy, liberalisation of shared-ownership rules and the biggest house-building programme by any Government since the 1970s.

“This is of particular significance as East Hampshire has become one of the least-affordable places outside London for would-be buyers, with the average home now costing more than 12 times average earnings,” Mr Hinds added.