I HAVE nothing but good to say about the police.

In all my dealings with them, I have found them to be nothing other than professional and courteous.

And there is no doubt they are an essential part of the fabric of a decent, democratic society.

But how do we treat our police, I wonder.

And more to the point, how does our elected government treat them?

I think we got the answer to that question this week with two announcements.

The first came from the National Audit Office, the organisation that scrutinises government spending.

And its report on the relationship between government and the police didn't hold back.

It said: "The Home Office’s light touch approach to overseeing police forces means it does not know if the police system is financially sustainable.

"It lacks a long-term plan for policing and significant gaps remain in its understanding of demand for police services and their costs.

"The way the Department chooses to distribute funding has been ineffective and detached from the changing nature of policing for too long and it cannot be sure overall funding is being directed to the right places.

"With plans to reform the funding formula on hold, and no systematic approach to ensuring forces are financially sustainable, we cannot conclude that the Home Office’s oversight of the police system is value for money."

Now that is pretty scathing and and more than a little worrying.

Just pick your way through that statement.

Our own government does not even know is the country's police system is sustainable and doesn't understand the demand for police services and their costs.

Just what is going on here? This isn't some opposition party having a pop at the government, there is no party politics going on here.

This is the sober, responsible, independent organisation tasked with making sure we get value for money basically saying the government doesn't have a clue what's happening with the police.

Frankly, that is not acceptable.

According to the BBC, a Home Office spokesman said the department had conducted a substantial review of police pressures last year.

However, the Home Office had not even forecast the effect of losing 44,000 police officers and staff since 2010, the NAO said.

Since September 2009 – the last set of Home Office figures before the Conservatives came into government – there has been a cut of 22,424 police officers.

There were 126,252 police officers in England and Wales in September 2017, according to the latest figures.

Historically there have been fewer officers – with 123,474 in 2001; 125,453 in 1991; and 116,544 in 1981, for example.

Officer numbers grew during the Labour government from 2002 onwards, peaking in 2009.

But if those officers we have left to keep law and order can expect to be rewarded for their increased workload, they can think again.

The second announcement – and further evidence of the government's attitude to the police – was its refusal this week to increase pay by the 3 per cent an independent review body had recommended. Instead it will pay just 2 per cent.

And that refusal to increase was described as a 'punch on the nose' by Cressida Dick, Britain's most senior police officer.

She said she was 'extremely disappointed' by the decision to give police the reduced rise.

Now I have no idea about the level of pressure police face every day but I do know I wouldn't want to do their job.

And I think they are worth every penny they are paid.

But it would appear a government condemned as clueless by its own audit office doesn't share my view.