Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Amesbury and Nick Hurd

Monday 25th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on police forces of changes in the level of Government funding for the police in 2019-20.

[The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service (Mr Nick Hurd)]

As a result of the police funding settlement, we will be investing almost £14 billion in our police system next year, which is £2 billion more than in 2015-16. Up and down the country, police and crime commissioners have set out their plans to use that additional money to hire about 2,700 additional officers, including more than 40 more in Cheshire, which I hope the hon. Gentleman will welcome.

[Mike Amesbury]

Cheshire police force has lost 135 officers since 2010, and central Government cuts for a ninth consecutive year, in real terms, continue to put real pressures on our local resources. When will the Minister ensure that our PCC gets the resources that he needs?

[Mr Hurd]

As a result of the two funding settlements that I have taken through Parliament, the Cheshire PCC is now in a position to recruit an additional 43 officers and seven police community support officers. I am sure the hon. Gentleman’s constituents will welcome that and wonder why he voted against it.

Topical Questions

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Amesbury and Nick Hurd

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

T2. According to figures provided to me by the Fire Brigades Union, the Government have cut funding to the fire service by 30% since 2010. The FBU also informs me that a further cut of 20% is planned during the course of this Parliament. How can the Minister credibly claim that austerity is over for the firefighters of Cheshire and the UK?

[Mr Hurd]

I thank the FBU for both questions. The truth—and it is always ignored in questions about firefighters from those on the Labour Front Bench—is that the underlying demand for the fire service has fallen, in terms of the number of primary fires and fatalities arising from fires. Under those circumstances, stable funding over the last CSR period was a good deal for the fire service. We are very serious about ensuring that the fire service has the resources it needs, with a proper understanding of the demand and risks it faces over the next few years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Amesbury and Nick Hurd

Monday 8th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

T9. Since 2010, according to the Fire Brigades Union, Cheshire fire service has lost more than 170 firefighters, incident response times are up, the number of available appliances is down, and casualties are rising year on year. Will the Minister now accept that his Government’s cuts are having a detrimental effect on local services?

[Mr Hurd]

Funding for fire services is basically being held flat against a backdrop of a welcome decline in fire incidents. At the same time, the single fire authority system is sitting on hundreds of millions of pounds of public money in reserves, so we still believe that fire services are adequately resourced.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Amesbury and Nick Hurd

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that, with fire deaths in Cheshire having increased every year for the past four years, cuts to fire services and, indeed, the downgrading of appliances cannot continue without severe consequences for local people?

[Mr Hurd]

According to my information, Cheshire fire and rescue service has had a 31% reduction in fires over the past five years, and a 6% reduction in incidents. This year, it had a core spending power of £40.9 million, and at March 2017, it held reserves of £28 million.