Oral Answers to Questions Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Home Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts
Monday 12th December 2011

(12 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lilian Greenwood Portrait Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
- Hansard - -

14. What discussions she has had with police authorities on the police funding settlement for 2012-13.

Lord Herbert of South Downs Portrait The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Nick Herbert)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Last Thursday I laid the provisional police grant report for 2012-13 before the House. It set out provisional allocations of the Home Office core settlement for police authorities for 2012-13, and is now the subject of a consultation. I will consider all responses carefully.

Lilian Greenwood Portrait Lilian Greenwood
- Hansard - -

The Deputy Prime Minister says that the funding settlement for Nottinghamshire police is “manageable”, but the police themselves say:

“The Government’s inequitable cuts will impact on frontline policing in Nottinghamshire”.

Who does the Minister think my constituents should believe?

Lord Herbert of South Downs Portrait Nick Herbert
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Of course dealing with budget reductions is challenging for police forces, but we are convinced that they can do it. I recently met members of the Nottinghamshire force, including the chief constable, and we discussed the issues. The chief constable has acknowledged the difficulty of the decisions involved, but has also said that she is

“doing all we can to protect frontline services and target resources to areas where the public are most commonly affected”.