Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has been made of potential changes in local council tax required to maintain overall police spending in real terms.

The Home Office worked closely with policing partners and other Government Departments as part of Spending Review preparations to ensure flexibility on council tax is a key part of the Spending Review settlement for the police.

The Spending Review makes provision for overall police spending to be protected in real terms, when council tax income is taken into account. The ten Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England with the lowest precept levels in each year will be able to raise their police precept level by up to £5 per year over the Spending Review period, compared to the usual two per cent. These provisions are an integral part of the overall Spending Review settlement for the police.

It is right that PCCs, in consultation with local taxpayers, should decide the level of police precept in their area each year.