§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of pension payments on police and fire authorities' budgets in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [121479]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeUnder the Central Local Partnership, the Home Office has been working closely with representatives of fire and police authorities to assess resource demands for the next three years. Projections by the services concerned were made by the Local Government Association's Fire Service Expenditure Forecasting Group and the Association of Police Authorities/Association of Chief Police Officers in its report "Policing the Future - Report of the Police Service Expenditure Forecasting Group". Pensions pressures are being taken into account in consideration of Spending Review 2000.