§ Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to announce the(a) allocations of police grant for individual police authorities in 1997–98 and (b) allocations of the next instalment of funding for 5,000 extra officers; and if he will make a statement on the impact of these allocations on the overall funding of police authorities in that year. [6909]
§ Mr. HowardI have today put a copy of my proposals for the allocation of police grant for 1997–98 in the Library. I intend to implement these proposals subject to consideration of any representations I receive about them.
The police service has indicated its support in principle for the continued distribution of police grant in accordance with a needs-based formula, and I am therefore proposing to continue to allocate the greater part of police grant according to the police funding formula.
I am, however, proposing several changes to the formula to reflect the latest data now available, and in response to the representation I have received. The principle changes I propose are:
to adjust the proportion of funding allocated on the basis of each force's expected work load in each of the five key areas of police activity;to introduce a further component of the formula under which funding for patrol work will be allocated;to reduce from 40 per cent. to 30 per cent. the share of funding allocated on the basis of forces' past establishments;to increase from 12.3 per cent. to 12.9 per cent. the proportion of funding allocated on the basis of forces' pensions commitments.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced last year funding for 5,000 extra police officers over the three-year period beginning 1 April 1996. An additional £40 million of police grant has been made available in 1997–98, which is sufficient to enable a further 2,000 officers to be recruited. This is on top of the extra £20 234W million provided this year. I am proposing to allocate the £40 million according to the daytime and resident populations of each police force area.
I am also concerned to ensure that public confidence in policing is maintained. In particular, I consider it important for public confidence that police authorities should be seen as able to provide a similar level of service as in 1996–97. I am therefore propose to apply additional rules to ensure that every police authority, not including the receiver for the metropolitan police district or the common council of the City of London, can receive at a least 2 per cent. more funding in 1997–98, and is able to budget at a level 3.2 per cent. above its budget requirement for 1996–97. This would enable them to meet increases in pay and other costs. This does not include their share of the £40 million which has been made available for additional officers. The Metropolitan police will be able to increase spending by 3.4 per cent. above its budget requirement in 1996–97. This includes its share of extra funding for additional officers in 1997–98.
Other police funding proposals within the local government finance system are being announced today by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales. These proposals and mine would increase the total spending power of police authorities in England and Wales by 3.7 per cent. or £247 million over 1996–97.
The table shows by police authority the effect of my approvals for 1997–98. It also shows the allocations approved by Parliament for 1996–97.
235W
Police Authority 1996–97 Funding1 £ million 1997–98 Funding1 £ million English Shire forces Avon and Somerset 154.6 158.7 Bedfordshire 57.3 58.9 Cambridgeshire 66.4 68.2 Cheshire 98.5 101.1 Cleveland 73.3 75.2 Cumbria 57.1 58.6 Derbyshire 92.5 95.3 Devon and Cornwall 153.4 158.7 Dorset 64.9 66.6 Durham 71.5 73.3 Essex 151.7 155.9 Gloucestershire 58.5 60.1 Hampshire 175.3 180.0 Hertfordshire 89.9 92.4 Humberside 103.1 105.9 Kent 163.9 168.5 Lancashire 163.5 167.7 Leicestershire 94.8 97.3 Lincolnshire 59.0 61.5 Norfolk 76.0 78.1 North Yorkshire 69.7 71.9 Northamptonshire 58.4 60.0 Nottinghamshire 115.2 119.4 Staffordshire 108.9 111.8 Suffolk 61.7 63.4 Surrey 88.0 91.8 Sussex 151.1 155.2 Thames Valley 202.6 208.2 Warwickshire 49.2 50.6 West Mercia 103.5 106.3 Wiltshire 60.7 62.3
Police Authority 1996–97 Funding1 £ million 1997–98 Funding1 £ million English Metropolitan forces Greater Manchester 342.5 351.1 Merseyside 221.9 227.3 Northumbria 188.2 193.4 South Yorkshire 154.7 158.8 West Midlands 344.0 353.4 West Yorkshire 260.9 267.5 London forces Metropolitan Police2 1,649.6 1,688.2 City of London3 59.1 61.6 English Total 6,314.9 6,484.2 Welsh forces Dyfed-Powys 48.6 49.9 Gwent 62.8 64.5 North Wales 69.3 71.2 South Wales 151.1 155.1 Welsh total 331.7 340.8 Total 6,646.7 6,825.0 Notes: 1 Rounded to the nearest £100,000. Funding is the sum of all police grant, SSAs and damping grant. 2 Figure for the Metropolitan Police does not include funding allocated to the Receiver under the Other Services Block SSA for school crossing patrols, Magistrates' Courts and the Probation Service. 3 Figure for the City includes Police SSA and Grant, but excludes other SSAs e.g. Capital Financing which are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.