§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department will take if police forces fail to make the target 2 per cent. year on year efficiency gains; and if he will make a statement. [79375]
§ Mr. BoatengMy right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 21 July 1998,Official Report, column 915, that the police would receive an extra £ 1.24 billion over the next three years. Part of the additional funding for the second and third years will be dependent on forces achieving the target of 2 per cent. efficiency improvements a year set by the Comprehensive Spending Review. The arrangements we have put in place for the Home Office to monitor and review police efficiency plans jointly with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission will give forces every opportunity to demonstrate that they are meeting this target, and that the resources released have been reinvested to improve delivery of frontline national and local policing priorities.