§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish, by police force area, figures for total police funding in(a) 1995–96 and (b) 1994–95.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 12 December 1994]: In respect of 1995–96 I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) on 1 December 1994 at column 844.
It is not possible to provide directly comparable figures for police funding in 1994–95. The elements of standard spending assessments relevant to police are, in the case of county forces, part of the counties' overall SSAs for the provision of local services. Police grant for 1994–95 is now being paid in respect of actual expenditure by police authorities. The nearest approximation to police funding in 1994–95 is therefore obtained by adding an estimate of that part of a county's SSA relevant to the police to estimated police grant. These figures are given and provide a rough basis for comparison with 1995–96 funding. They are not, however, directly comparable because:
- (a) the 1994–95 financial year is not yet over and the expenditure figures are therefore still estimates; and,
- (b) grant elements of the 1994–95 figures include forces' share of funding for common police services, whereas the 1995–96 grant element of the figures are shown after forces' share of funding for common police services have been taken into account. Section 31 of the Police Act 1964 as substituted by section 17 of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 does not provide for deductions from grant to fund common police services.
The table shows the totals of the estimated SSAs relevant and to police and police grants by English police force area in 1994–95. For 1994–95 and earlier years there were no SSAs for police authorities in Wales.
1217W
Police force area £ million 1994–95 estimated funding English Forces Avon and Somerset 139.82 Bedfordshire 53.16 Cambridgeshire 58.07 Cheshire 85.83 Cleveland 67.53 Cumbria 53.98 Derbyshire 83.56 Devon and Cornwall 136.75 Dorset 61.16 Durham 61.80 Essex 143.99 Gloucestershire 53.85 Hampshire 155.67 Hertfordshire 82.05 Humberside 91.65 Kent 152.38 Lancashire 147.20 Leicestershire 81.83 Lincolnshire 56.67 Norfolk 65.16 North Yorkshire 63.07 Northamptonshire 55.46 Nottinghamshire 105.02 Staffordshire 97.17 Suffolk 55.83 Surrey 84.75 Sussex 131.58 Thames Valley 191.25
Police force area £ million 1994–95 estimated funding Warwickshire 46.48 West Mercia 95.24 Wiltshire 58.45 English Shires Total 2,816.40
English Metropolitan Forces Greater Manchester 314.56 Merseyside 213.26 Northumbria 163.10 South Yorkshire 136.84 West Midlands 314.92 West Yorkshire 240.90 English Metropolitan Total 1,383.58
Metropolitan Police 1,616.89 City of London 56.18 Total 5,873.05