Police Efficiency (Hansard, 7 December 1999)

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what quantitative assessment he has made of the levels of efficiency of individual police forces, and of the differential impact of his proposed 2 per cent. efficiency savings on their operational capacity; and if he will make a statement. [101114]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The Home Office uses a number of different measures to assess police performance. There is no agreed formula for measuring police efficiency, although work on measuring comparative efficiency is being carried out locally to meet the requirements of Best Value. In addition, the Public Service Productivity Panel is assessing tools for measuring efficiency to assist Police Authorities in meeting their Best Value duties.
The efficiency targets set by the Government require each force to plan efficiency gains to equal to at least 2 per cent. of non-revenue expenditure for reinvestment in front line policing. Each force will retain any cash savings for use in improving their service to the public. The overall impact will be to make efficiency gains worth £440 million available for police operations between 1999 and 2002. The differential impact for each force will depend on the strength of the efficiency plan.

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on numbers of(a) total employees, (b) uniformed officers and (c) civilian staff of his planned 2 per cent. efficiency reduction for 2000–01 in respect of the (i) Greater Manchester, (ii) Cheshire, (iii) Merseyside and (iv) Lancashire police; and if he will make a statement. [101116]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
This Government's Comprehensive Spending Review has set the police a 2 per cent. year on year efficiency target from April 1999. This is not a reduction in police funding—the resources released by efficiency gains will be reinvested in frontline policing.
As in 1999–2000, each police authority has been asked to produce an efficiency plan for the year 2000–01 detailing how this 2 per cent. efficiency target can be reached, and how cashable savings will be reinvested to provide a better public service.
The impact of efficiency plans on numbers of employees, whether police officers or civilians, is a matter for police authorities and chief officers to determine. We expect efficiency plans to be submitted to the Home Office by April 2000, and until they have been finalised I can make no assessment.

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take into account the efficiency levels of police forces when assessing bids from them for the additional special funding for front-line officers; and if he will make a statement. [101115]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
One of the "gateway" criteria against which bids will be assessed is that forces are on target to meet the 2 per cent. efficiency gains for 1999–2000 as required by the Government Comprehensive Spending Review.