Police Authorities (Revised Grant Allocations) Debate
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Lord Herbert of South Downs
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Police Authorities (Revised Grant Allocations)
Lord Herbert of South Downs Excerpts(13 years, 11 months ago)
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The Minister for Police (Nick Herbert)
As indicated by my statement of 27 May I have today laid before the House our proposals for the revised allocation of core police funding for England and Wales in 2010-11 in the form of the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) Amending Report 2010-11. I intend to implement the proposals subject to consideration of any representations and the approval of the House.
The Government’s priority is to cut the budget deficit and get the economy moving again. That means the police will have to bear a fair share of the burden, helped by £100 million of savings already identified for this year on areas including procurement and IT. I am quite clear that this saving can be achieved by driving out wasteful spending, reducing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency in key functions, while leaving the front line of policing strong and secure.
Total Home Office cuts will be £367 million and in order to minimise the impact on the police service the Home Office will cut a greater than proportionate share of its central budget. In summary, the Government intend to reduce police funding by a total of £135 million this year. This will be achieved by a proposed £115 million reduction in rule 2 grant, a £10 million reduction in capital grant and a £10 million reduction in counter-terrorism specific grants. Even after these reductions Government funding to the police service will remain at £9.61 billion in 2010-11. This is still £124 million more than last year.
Allocation as at February 2010 | Proposed Allocations | |
|---|---|---|
£m | £m | |
Home Office principal formula grant (including MPS Special Payment) | 4,600 | 4,600 |
Rule 2 grants | 209 | 94 |
Total Home Office core settlement | 4,809 | 4,694 |
Core Settlement
I am proposing to deduct £115 million from the rule 2 element of each force’s core Home Office grant settlement. No other element of the police grant report will be amended. Rule 2 grants are former specific grants from which conditions for how they must be spent have been removed.
Specific Grants
Specific grants for neighbourhood policing, basic command units and crime fighting will remain at planned levels for 2010-11. Counter-terrorism policing grants will be reduced by £10 million. Senior counter-terrorism police officers have provided advice on the most appropriate way to find these savings while ensuring that the police service retains the necessary capabilities to counter terrorist activity and support our national security
The Government will none the less still be providing £569 million to forces through police counter-terrorism specific grants this year, maintaining 09-10 funding levels.
Capital Grant
There will be a reduction of £10 million to the capital grant in 2010-11. This still provides a total capital provision of £210 million to police authorities to develop their local infrastructure investment to support their operational activity.
Revised force allocations were set out in my statement of 27 May 2010.