Cash-strapped West Midlands Police is to get an increase in funding from the Home Office - for the first time in ten years.

But police chiefs said the extra money won't come close to covering the extra costs facing the force, and won't allow them to recruit the extra officers they urgently need.

At the same time, the Government is allowing Police and Crime Commissioners to add an extra £24-a-year on to council tax bills for band D homes, to raise extra money.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, said: “West Midlands Police has faced cuts of £175 million since 2010, leading to over 2,000 police officers being lost during that period.

“Despite warm words over the last few months, this is once again a disappointing settlement that falls a long way short of what West Midlands Police needed from the government."

Mr Jamieson will not decide whether to introduce the full £24-a-year increase until later this month.

But he is expected to say he has no choice other than to put up council tax bills by the maximum amount allowed.

The rise in the police precept, added to council bills from April next year, will come on top of previous inflation-busting increases, such as the £12 rise imposed this year.

And it will also come on top of the annual council tax increase imposed by Birmingham City Council and other local councils in the West Midlands, which have not yet been announced.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson: 'This government funding does not come anywhere near to covering what the force requires just to standstill'

The Home Office is to increase funding for West Midlands Police from £444.1 million to £460 million, an increase of 3.5%.

It means the central grant for the force has risen by more than inflation for the first time in eight years, and follows years of cuts.

This comes after Prime Minister Theresa May said austerity would come to an end, in her speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham in October.

However, Mr Jamieson, a Labour politician, pointed out that the extra funding included £7 million ringfenced for police pensions, after forces were ordered to increase their contributions.

And West Midlands Police has also been ordered to increase police pay.

Mr Jamieson said: "Crime is rising and we require a significant boost in police officer numbers to tackle the problem.

"This government funding does not come anywhere near to covering what the force requires just to standstill."

MPs disagree over funding announcement

Julian Knight, Conservative MP for Solihull said: "The challenge now to David Jamieson is to put up and shut up.

"He's consistently moaning at central government despite sitting on £100 million in reserves.

"He needs to focus and get on with the job of delivering a reduction in crime, rather than taking police services from areas like Solihull and closing our main police station."

Solihull MP Julian Knight

Jack Dromey, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, said: " With violent crime up 18% and gun crime up 15%, fear stalks the streets of communities all over the West Midlands. Today’s announcement simply does not go far enough.

"West Midlands Police has suffered a cut of £175 million and the loss of 2100 Police Officers since 2010, making it ever harder to fight crime."

It comes as violent crime is rising in the West Midlands

The number of violent crimes recorded by West Midlands police shot up by a fifth in the past 12 months , recent police figures show.

West Midlands Police recorded 61,124 violent crimes in a year. That's 167 violent crimes a day.

It's an increase from the figure of 50,699 violent crimes a year previously.

There's more money for counter-terrorism police

And it means violent crime in the area served by West Midlands Police, including Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country, is up by 20 per cent.

At the same time, the total number of offences, including violent crime, was up by 10 per cent.

Extra funding to fight terrorism and child abuse

Nationally, an extra £59 million will also be given towards counter-terror policing and £90 million is being made available to tackle economic and cyber crime, as well as child sexual exploitation.

Police Minister Nick Hurd said he was announcing the settlement at a "time of real pressure on police", saying they "need additional support to help them do their job".

He said: "This settlement means that, as a country, we will be investing next year up to £14 billion in our police system if all police and crime commissioners use full precept flexibility, that would represent increased public investment of £2 billion compared to 2015/16."