Employer National Insurance Contributions: Police Forces

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame Diana Johnson)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you this afternoon, Dr Allin-Khan. Let me begin by thanking the right hon. Member for Tatton (Esther McVey) for securing this debate. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) about the right hon. Lady’s skills of oratory. I did not agree with what she actually said, but she has a very engaging and enjoyable style of communication. She should take that as a compliment.

I also thank the other hon. Members who have spoken this afternoon: the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), another Cheshire MP; the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), who recognised at the start of her contribution the valuable role of neighbourhood policing in her area; and the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson), who intervened. The hon. Member for North Cornwall (Ben Maguire) spoke on behalf of the Liberal Democrats; I was rather intrigued, because I am long enough in the tooth to remember when Liberal Democrat Ministers in the coalition Government actively argued for putting PCCs on the statute book in the 2010 to 2015 Parliament. I heard his comments on rural crime, which a number of Members are very concerned about. My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby set out clearly this Government’s commitment to policing and the police settlement that was finalised last month.

I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to each and every police officer, staff member and volunteer who works tirelessly, often in the most difficult circumstances, to keep our communities safe. This Government recognise the invaluable contribution that they make, and the need to ensure that policing is properly funded and protected. The challenges that police personnel face are very real. It is essential that they are equipped and resourced to do their jobs effectively. The resourcing of police forces is, understandably, a subject of considerable interest for parliamentarians and the public. Discussions that help to shine a light on these important issues, such as this debate, are to be welcomed.

In a moment I will turn to the specific focus of the debate—national insurance contributions—but in the interest of providing some important context and background, I will refer briefly to the police funding settlement that was put before the House in January. The settlement for 2025-26 provides an increase of up to £1.1 billion to policing, taking the Government’s total investment to £19.6 billion. We have listened to the police, and we know the challenges that they face.

I gently say to Opposition Members, who perhaps served in previous Conservative Governments, that there is quite a history with how the Conservatives funded or did not fund policing. I know the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers), takes great delight in talking about the additional police officers towards the end of the Conservative time in office, but he also needs to remember the huge cuts that happened to policing. More than 20,000 police officers and thousands upon thousands of police staff were lost in the years of austerity and through the cuts that the Conservative Governments brought forward.

[John Slinger]

Does the Minister agree that if police officers are cut by 20,000, and then their numbers are replaced by 20,000, not a huge amount has been done to boost police numbers?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I am also conscious of the loss of experienced officers in that 20,000. We know that the service is now very young; I think about 40% of officers have under five years of service. That presents all sorts of challenges for policing.

I want to make it clear that we have increased the funding available for neighbourhood policing by an additional £100 million. That is compared with the provisional settlement that was announced at the end of last year. We in this Chamber can all agree that neighbourhood policing is so important to our constituents, and the figure for that will now be at £200 million. That investment is to kick-start the delivery of the 13,000 neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and specials that the Labour Government promised in their manifesto. It will also ensure that public confidence in policing is restored. As I said when opening the debate on the police grant report last week in the main Chamber, the settlement underlines the Government’s commitment to working with the police to deliver the safer streets that all our constituents deserve.

It is worth saying that I spoke to the PCC in Cheshire last week about the funding settlement. He was positive about the settlement that had been announced for his force. He did not raise any specific issues on national insurance, and the force did not raise any concerns in the consultation on the provisional settlement after it was published in December.

[Esther McVey]

Did the Minister receive a further letter from the chief constable, expressing serious concerns about the rising number of serious sexual assaults going on in Cheshire?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

As I have just said, the PCC I spoke to last week did not raise any concerns about the financial settlement. Obviously, the PCC and the chief constable use that money in the way that they decide for Cheshire. I have certainly had conversations with the chief constable of Cheshire, and the right hon. Lady is right that I have received a letter from the chief constable that was copied to a number of Members of Parliament in Cheshire.

I accept and recognise that the changes to national insurance contributions will have an impact on public sector budgets, including policing. Although the decision to increase national insurance was made to ensure the sustainability of essential public services, I recognise that the changes create additional cost pressures for police forces. It is useful to note that in 2003, and in 2011 under the coalition Government, there was an increase in employer national insurance to fund the national health service and wider national priorities. So this is not unusual; Governments of both complexions have taken forward changes to national insurance.

It is also worth noting that the changes introduced in the Budget last year broadly return national insurance contributions revenue as a proportion of GDP to the level that they were before the previous Government’s cuts to employee and self-employed national insurance contributions. That sets the context, and this has been done in a way that does not result in higher taxes in people’s payslips.

[Wendy Morton]

When the right hon. Lady says that this change will not impact on employee’s payslips, she completely misses the point: whether in a business or the public sector, we cannot just keep squeezing and squeezing and expect things to continue as they are. If it is a business, we squeeze them out of business—there are no jobs; there will be no pay packet. If we keep squeezing the public sector, there will be no public services.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

With the greatest of respect to the right hon. Lady, who I think was Chief Whip under the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss, I am not really prepared to take lessons on economic stability and how to run the economy from a Government that trashed the economy and that caused such devastation to many families through the rise in interest rates and mortgages. I think perhaps a little humility might be in order.

We have set aside funding to protect the spending power of the public sector, including the NHS, from the direct impacts of the increase in employer national insurance. That is why we are providing compensation of £230.3 million to support forces with the cost of changes to national insurance and to ensure that no force is left out of pocket as a result. The right hon. Member for Tatton may like to know that that is similar to the funding provided by the previous Government in the 2024-25 police funding settlement to cover the additional costs of pension changes. Again, this is not unusual.

The right hon. Lady may have concerns about the £3.7 million pressure reported by her local police force as a result of the changes and the impact that that could have on officer numbers. As set out in the settlement papers, however, we are fully covering those costs. Actually, Cheshire is getting £3.9 million in national insurance compensation for next year—more than the anticipated need. That is alongside the £200 million that we are investing in neighbourhood policing to ensure not only that officer numbers are maintained, but that visible policing in our communities increases. Our mission is clear, and the funding provided in this settlement will ensure that forces across the country are equipped to meet the challenges that they face and to protect our communities.

As I have said a number of times this afternoon, I of course recognise that any additional pressures on forces are concerning. That is why we will continue to engage closely with forces and finance leads to ensure policing has the resources it needs.

I thank the right hon. Member again for securing this debate, and thank all those who have spoken. We are compensating for the national insurance increases to ensure that forces have the resources they need to protect visible neighbourhood policing. Our position could not be clearer. We will work in lockstep with the law enforcement system in our shared effort to keep people safe, whether that involves restoring and protecting the long-standing tradition of British policing, such as neighbourhood policing, or acting to combat the most dangerous emerging threats. This Government are wholly committed to providing the police with the powers, resources and tools that they need to protect the public.

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (in the Chair)]

I call Esther McVey to wind up the debate.