Police Funding (Hansard, 24 November 1999)

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his reasons were for not changing the formula for police funding relating to sparsity factor.[99055]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The findings of the independent research report on policing sparsely populated rural areas were considered by a Home Office chaired Working Group, which included representatives of the police service, police authorities and local authorities, in the summer. There was no single view within the Working Group on the conclusions of the report. There was general agreement that a scarcity factor had been detected, but less agreement about how to include it appropriately in the police funding formula.
We have also taken into consideration the need for stability in the police funding system to enable police authorities to plan ahead. In the July 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government—In Touch With the People", my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said that we would not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) whilst a fundamental review of the SSA system across local government is conducted. This applies equally to the method of police grant distribution, as a common formula is used for distribution of police grant and SSA.
In the light of these factors our present intention is that, subject to consultation and parliamentary approval, we shall not make any changes to the method of police grant distribution for 2000–01. We do not therefore propose to make any substantive changes to the operation of the police funding formula for next year.
Rural police forces will continue to benefit from the existing 'scarcity' element of the funding formula. This element allocates 0.5 per cent. of the available funding (about £35 million) on a judgmental basis.

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the impact of his funding policies on the number of police officers there will be in Gloucestershire in the financial year 2000–01; and how many additional police officers he estimates there will be in Gloucestershire in 2000–01. [99056]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The powers of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to set police establishment levels for each force were removed under the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994. It is for the chief officer to determine staffing levels within the overall resources available. We will be announcing shortly the proposed funding allocations for police authorities in England and Wales for 2000–01.
In addition, the Government are making available additional resources, in a new ring-fenced Crime Fighting Fund, to enable the police to recruit 5,000 more officers, over and above the number that would otherwise have been recruited over the next three years.

§ Mrs. Lawrence
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his recommendations following the Home Office Working Group report on additional costs associated with the policing of sparsely populated rural areas. [98586]
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§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The findings of the independent research report on policing sparsely populated rural areas were considered by a Home Office chaired Working Group, which included representatives of the police service, police authorities and local authorities, in the summer. There was no single view within the Working Group on the conclusions of the report. There was general agreement that a sparsity factor had been detected, but less agreement about how to include it appropriately in the police funding formula.
We have also taken into account the need for stability in the police funding system to enable police authorities to plan ahead. In the July 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government—In Touch with the People", my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said that we would not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) while a fundamental review of the SSA system across local government is conducted. This applies equally to the method of police grant distribution, as a common formula is used for distribution of police grant and SSA.
Rural police forces will continue to benefit from the existing 'sparsity' element in the funding formula. This element allocates 0.5 per cent. of the available funding (about £35 million) on a judgmental basis.
Our present intention is that, subject to consultation and approval by the House, we shall not make any changes to the method of police grant distribution for 2000–01. We do not therefore propose to make any substantive changes to the operation of the police funding formula for next year.