Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the levels of police funding in (a) Sunderland and (b) the North-East.

We undertook a substantial piece of work to assess demand in 2017 in which I spoke to leaders in all forces in England and Wales and also many frontline officers. I understand that forces are under pressure. We recognise that crime is changing and that police demand is becoming increasingly complex.

We responded by providing a comprehensive funding settlement which will increase total investment in the police system by over £460m in 2018/19. This includes £50m for Counter-Terrorism, £130m for national priorities and £280m in force funding from increases in Council Tax precept income. In Northumbria this means that the PCC could raise an additional £5.3m in local funding this year.