§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (I) what factors his Department is considering using in the funding formula for police authorities to reflect the additional costs of policing rural counties; [20019]
(2) when his Department intends to introduce changes to the funding formula for police authorities to reflect the additional costs of policing rural counties. [20020]
§ Mr. MacleanMy right hon. and learned Friend has asked the allocation formula working group to advise him whether the police funding formula in England and Wales takes adequate account of any extra police costs in both densely and sparsely populated areas. The group is following a unit costing approach, and will have access to the expertise of external consultants. If there is a sound statistical basis for changes to the formula, we will introduce these as soon as we can.