HC Deb 23 October 2000 vol 355 cc48-9W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the funding for policing in Chorley was in each of the last three years. [133848]

Mr. Charles Clarke

I have been advised by the Chief Constable that Lancashire operates a system of devolved financial management whereby budgets are given both to Divisional Commanders (to run their policing division) and to Departmental Heads.

Chorley is part of Southern Division, one of six policing divisions in Lancashire Constabulary.

That part of the total Southern Division budget allocated to Chorley in the last three years was:

£ million
1998–99 5.2
1999–2000 5.9
2000–01 6.1

These costs include police and support staff salaries and a proportion of other Divisional support costs.

The Chief Constable also tells me that a wide range of budgets/costs are incurred centrally such as those for Human Resources and Finance. In addition, there is a range of forcewide operational support functions such as an Intelligence Unit and an Operational Support Unit that support divisional activity. The Chief Constable estimates that when these matters are taken into account, total funding for Chorley over the last three years would be as follows:

£ million
1998–99 8.8
1999–2000 10.0
2000–01 10.4