Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the policing precepts in increasing police funding in areas with a low base of council tax.

For 2019/20 we are proposing the biggest increase in funding since 2010 - total funding of up to £14 billion for 2019-20, an increase of up to £970m compared to 2018/19, including council tax, pensions funding and national investment. With more money for local police forces, counter terrorism and tackling serious and or-ganised crime.

We are increasing Government grants to PCCs by £161m, with every PCC’s grant protected in real terms. Additionally, PCCs will be empowered to raise council tax contributions for local policing up to £2-a-month per household. If all PCCs in-crease their precept by £24 a year, this could raise up to around £509m for police forces to spend locally.

It is right for PCCs to decide if council tax should increase by £2 a month for a Band D households. Elected PCCs will have to make a case for raising local tax to their electorate and be accountable for delivery of a return on that public invest-ment.

We have reviewed the changing and increasingly complex demands on the police and this settlement will enable them to meet the financial pressures they face next year, while continuing to recruit.