HC Deb 27 June 2002 vol 387 cc1072-3W
Martin Linton

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding he has made available to the National Probation Service for 2002–03; what criteria the NPS has used to fund the 42 probation areas; and what the areas' budgets are for(a)2001–02 and (b)2002–03. [62052]

Hilary Benn

The provisional funding for the National Probation Service for 2002–03 is £666.7 million. This is used to meet

  1. (a) central costs of the National Directorate (including Estates and Information Technology costs for the local areas)
  2. (b) the cost of training Probation Officers
  3. (c) the operating costs of local boards, allocated to local boards and
  4. (d) the cost of Hostels, which is also allocated to local boards.

The target funding to the 42 probation areas for operational costs (c above) is calculated, (a)85 per cent. on the basis of a formula which assesses relative need, and (b)15 per cent. on the basis of workload. Since some local boards were historically funded significantly above the implied formula funding level, a minimum increase of 3 per cent. has been applied as a transitional measure.

The areas' budgets for operating costs (excluding short-term adjustments and before transfer of £20 million for Drug Testing and Treatment Orders to Department of Health) for 2001–02 and 2002–03 total £515 million and £537 million (provisional) respectively and are shown in the following table. Budgets for Hostels are £39.7 million and £40.6 million for 2001–02 and 2002–03 respectively.

Probation boards' allocations before transfers
A B C D
Base position from 2001–02 (£ million) Increase (£ million) Initial allocation 2002–03 (£ million) Percentage increase
Kent 13.802 0.414 14.216 3.0
Lancashire 14.831 0.445 15.276 3.0
Leicestershire 8.241 0.341 8.582 4.1
Lincolnshire 5.390 0.184 5.574 3.4
Norfolk 6.347 0.330 6.677 5.2
Northamptonshire 4.856 0.471 5.327 9.7
North Yorkshire 5.590 0.527 6.117 9.4
Nottinghamshire 10.801 0.474 11.275 4.4
Staffordshire 8.809 0.350 9.159 4.0
Suffolk 5.085 0.153 5.238 3.0
Surrey 6.692 0.201 6.893 3.0
Sussex 10.485 0.315 10.800 3.0
Teeside 7.618 0.325 7.943 4.3
Thames Valley 16.000 0.480 16.480 3.0
Warwickshire 4.031 0.121 4.152 3.0
West Mercia 8.865 0.346 9.211 3.9
Wiltshire 4.747 0.187 4.934 3.9
Greater Manchester 30.685 0.921 31.606 3.0
Merseyside 18.508 0.555 19.063 3.0
Northumbria 16.838 0.572 17.410 3.4
South Yorkshire 14.990 0.661 15.651 4.4
West Midlands 31.149 1360 32.509 4.4
West Yorkshire 23.916 0.928 24.844 3.9
Greater London 90.072 2.702 92.774 3.0
Dyfed-Powys 4.491 0.478 4.969 10.6
Gwent 5.613 1.208 6.821 21.5
North Wales 5.970 0.908 6.878 15.2
South Wales 14.486 0.461 14.947 3.2
Total 515.026 16.603 537.000 4.3

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