Police Funding

Damian Green Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Damian Green)]

I have today placed in the Library my proposals for the aggregate amount of grant to Local Policing Bodies in England and Wales for 2013-14, for the approval of the House. Copies are also available in the Vote Office.

Today the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will be publishing proposals for the distribution of Formula Grant to English local authorities for 2013-14. Funding to the police that in previous years was paid via the Local Government Finance Report issued by DCLG will now be paid via the Home Office Police Grant Report. This change reflects the fact that the police are outside the Business Rates Retention Scheme, and confirms my intention that this funding for the police will be permanently transferred to the Home Office in the next spending review.

The Welsh Government will shortly be setting out their proposals for the allocation of funding in 2013-14 for Local Policing Bodies in Wales.

Earlier this month, the Chancellor announced further reductions to departmental budgets for 2013-14 and 2014-15 in his autumn statement. However, I have protected the police from these reductions in 2013-14. In addition, in 2013-14, I have also protected the police from reductions announced by the Chancellor in November 2011 relating to public sector pay restraint. Without this protection on pay restraint, central Government funding for the police would have been reduced by £66 million in 2013-14. As a result of both these decisions, the police will receive the same amount of total Government funding in 2013-14 that was agreed at the October 2010 spending review.

Following the Chancellor’s recent autumn statement, I have decided to defer publication of police funding allocations for 2014-15 in order to fully scrutinise all Home Office budgets.

I have decided to apply damping so that every police force area in 2013-14 will face the same percentage reduction in core central Government funding (1.6% cash). I intend to apply damping in the same way in 2014-15. In making this decision, the Home Secretary and I have carefully considered responses to the recent informal consultation on damping. Many of the responses stressed the need to undertake a full review of the Police allocation formula before changing damping policy given that damping and the formula are inextricably linked. That is why we have decided to continue current damping arrangements and why the Home Secretary will be commissioning a fundamental review of the formula to begin once Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are established in their roles and able to engage fully in the review process. Determining how funding should be allocated to the police in the future is a complex and important matter which requires careful consideration and will take time. I am also aware that a continuation of existing damping arrangements is the basis on which many Police and Crime Commissioners and police forces are making their financial plans.

We have embarked on the biggest reforms to the policing landscape for 50 years. And 2012 is the year when these reforms start to come together at both the local level with the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners and at the national level, with the National Crime Agency. In November 2012, we welcomed 41 directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners. These directly elected individuals will have the statutory duty to deliver an efficient and effective police force, which clearly demonstrates value for money and, above all, cut-crime.

Police reform is working. Thanks to the hard work of officers up and down the country, day in and day out, crime is falling even though budgets are reducing. As Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has made clear, police forces have risen to the existing financial challenge, cutting spending while largely maintaining the service they provide. The proportion of officers on the frontline is increasing, crime continues to fall, victim satisfaction is up and the response to emergency calls is being maintained.

As my decisions on police funding in 2013-14 demonstrate, we are committed to ensuring that the police continue to have the resources they need to carry out their important work. I recognise that the funding settlement remains challenging, but I am confident that PCCs and forces win continue to drive out waste and maintain the level of service that the public expect.

I have set out below how I propose to allocate the police funding settlement between the different funding streams in 2013-14.