Oral Answers to Questions

Paula Sherriff Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

7. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

9. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding.

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

14. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hurd]

I had a productive meeting with the chief constable and Commissioner Baird, and I have a good understanding of some of the policing challenges they face and of the historic ratio of precept funding to core grant funding. All I will say is that, as with every single force, we are reviewing the demands on Northumbria police and its resilience before we make decisions on the 2018-19 funding settlement, on which we will consult before the end of the year.

[Paula Sherriff]

The chief constable of West Yorkshire police said, “Our officers are exhausted” and that policing is “not sustainable” in the long term without an uplift in funding. We have lost more than 1,000 officers in West Yorkshire, yet this weekend Ministers briefed the press that there is room for more cuts. If the Government’s first duty is the safety of their citizens, how can they possibly justify more cuts in the face of such warnings?

[Mr Hurd]

We are not cutting. As I have made clear, the amount of taxpayers’ money going into the police system has gone up and individual police budgets are flat. The amount of funding for West Yorkshire police rose in 2015-16 by £3.7 million, and the force is sitting on £91 million of reserves, some 22% of revenue.