Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Home Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts
Monday 1st April 2019

(5 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nick Hurd Portrait Mr Hurd
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It is the first duty of a Government to keep the public safe and the Home Secretary and I could not have made it clearer that our priority going into the spending review is police funding. More money has gone into Bedfordshire police and we intend to take police funding as a priority into the next spending review.

Lord Hanson of Flint Portrait David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
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The North Wales police precept has risen by 8% at a time when, over the past few years, the reduction in central Government funding has been £31 million. Will the Minister indicate how much the North Wales police precept would have to rise to compensate for central Government cuts?

Nick Hurd Portrait Mr Hurd
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I hope the right hon. Gentleman would welcome the additional public investment in North Wales police, as seems to be the case. That is part of a trend, which I hope he would welcome, of increased public investment in policing. If we want more to go into policing, we have to pay as taxpayers. Whether it comes from central Government or local government is not the point. He will know that most funding for local policing comes from the taxpayer through the centre. I will take no lectures on precepts from the Labour party, which doubled council tax when it was in power.