Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from the Metropolitan Police on proposed closures of police stations.

The 2015 Spending Review protected overall police spending in real terms. Since 2015/16 police forces have received broadly flat cash budgets and we are increasing investment in transformation, improved communications and technology capabilities.

The Mayor for London wrote to the Home Secretary in July to state that he had opened a consultation on the potential closure of front counters to reduce costs.

Decisions on the most effective use of the Metropolitan Police’s resources, including the number and operating hours of police stations, are for Chief Officers and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) who are held to account by the communities they serve.