Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) other police forces on the cost to the public purse of policing protests relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict since October 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary and Minister of State for Policing, Crime and Fire speak to chief constables on an ongoing basis on a range of subjects. As set out in the Home Affairs Select Committee’s recent report, NPCC and MPS leaders indicate that the costs of the policing Israel-Hamas-related protests was at least £25million between 7 October and 17 December. However, this figure includes the costs of community patrols, engagement and investigations that have taken place in efforts to tackle issues related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas-related conflict.
While we expect all police forces to hold reasonable levels of contingency funding for unplanned operations, it is open to Police and Crime Commissioners and their equivalents to request additional funding through the Police Special Grant. Criteria and guidance are published on gov.uk Special grant guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It should be noted that the Metropolitan Police has the highest level of officers and funding per capita of all forces in England and Wales and a third more funding than similar areas like Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the average spending, per head, on police in (a) Bolton South East constituency, (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, (c) the North West and (d) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold figures below the level of Police Force Area.
On the 2nd February 2022, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23, an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to 2021/22.
Lancashire’s funding will be up to £343.7m in 2022/23, an increase of up to £17.9m when compared to 2021/22.
Operational decisions, including those on local priorities, remain the responsibility of Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner’s.
We recognise that the current police funding formula is out of date and no longer accurately reflects demand on policing. We are committed to introducing a new formula that fairly and transparently distributes the circa £8.6bn of annual core grant funding to the 43 police forces in England and Wales.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference in funding per head for police services in (1) urban, and (2) rural, areas; and what steps they are taking to reduce any such difference.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
On the 4th February 2021, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021/22, an increase of up to £636 million compared to 2020/21. This continued investment shows the Government is committed to supporting the entire policing sector.
The police funding formula remains the most reliable mechanism we have to distribute core grant funding although this Government is alive to the concerns many in the policing sector hold over the current formula and we acknowledge that the current arrangements are out of date. Careful consideration will be given during the upcoming Spending Review and as part of our longer-term vision for policing.
Asked by: Edward Leigh (Conservative - Gainsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the disparity in per capita funding of police forces between urban and rural areas.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
On the 4th February 2021, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021/22, an increase of up to £636 million compared to 2020/21. This continued investment shows the Government is committed to supporting the entire policing sector.
The police funding formula remains the most reliable mechanism we have to distribute core grant funding although this Government is alive to the concerns many in the policing sector hold over the current formula and we acknowledge that the current arrangements are out of date. Careful consideration will be given during the upcoming Spending Review and as part of our longer-term vision for policing.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 27 June 2017 to Question 581 on Police: Per Capita Costs, what recent estimate she has made of the average annual cost to a police authority of employing a (a) police officer and (b) police community support officer; and what estimate she has made of that cost in each year from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The salary scales as recommended by the Police Remuneration and Review Body for England and Wales from 1st September 2020 are set out in the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) 6th report under Annex D.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the average annual cost to a police authority of employing a (a) police officer and (b) police community support officer; and what estimate she has made of that cost for each year from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Average full-time equivalent costs for police officers and PCSOs in 2016/17 are £50,200 and £28,400 respectively (including pay, National Insurance and pension contributions). We have not provided estimates for future costs, as these would be subject to future workforce decisions.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the average annual cost to a police authority of employing a (a) police officer and (b) police community support officer; and what estimate she has made of that cost in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Rt. hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead on 10 November 2015, UIN 14522.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the average cost to a police authority of employing a (a) police officer and (b) police community support officer; and what estimate she has made of that cost in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
Answered by Mike Penning
Police authorities were abolished in 2012. Police and Crime Commissioners are now responsible for local priorities. The Home Office has estimated the costs of police officers and police community support officers based on average full time equivalent costs and predicted cost increases. The costs include the employers’ portion of National Insurance and pension contributions.
£ | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 |
Average Officer | 47,800 | 50,000 | 50,800 | 51,500 | 52,400 |
Average PSCO | 32,300 | 33,400 | 33,800 | 34,200 | 34,700 |
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average annual capitation rate is for a police (a) constable, (b) sergeant, (c) inspector, (d) chief inspector, (e) superintendent and (f) chief superintendent.
Answered by Mike Penning
We do not use or compile "capitation rates" for the police but do produce estimates of "on costs" for the police which are used in published impact assessments and other analysis. The "on costs" estimate the full hourly cost
of using a police officer, this includes not just the wage per hour actually worked but includes expenses, tax payable, pensions, premises, transport, training and other costs. We provide estimates for police community support
officers (PCSO), sergeants and below and senior police officers (inspectors and above). The "on cost" of a PCSO per hour is £28.90, a sergeant and below is £36.51 and a senior police officer is £58.79.
The figures use publically available data from a variety of sources including the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Office for National Statistics
(ONS) and the Metropolitan Police Service. The first step works out the number of annual hours available for work by subtracting absence, training and leave from contracted weekly hours. The second step totals the wage and non-wage
costs per head for the three categories of police officer. The total costs are then divided by the number of hours available for work.