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Mr. Maclean: I am surprised at the hon. Gentleman, who has shown uncustomary ignorance about what I said a moment ago about the private finance initiative. There is no need for the North Wales police force to reduce its capital expenditure in the future if it uses the PFI. Other police forces are exploring that option, which will allow forces to have more buildings and more money to spend on capital projects. We must break out--as other areas of Government are doing--from the notion that unless the Government provide every penny of capital, then no other source of capital expenditure is available.
In revenue terms, the North Wales police force has received 5 per cent. this year--way above the national average for police funding. I suspect that that puts that force in the top quarter of all forces in terms of funding, and that is very generous. Hon Members from the North Wales police force area have no cause for complaint about the settlement in their area.
Mr. Harry Barnes (North-East Derbyshire)
rose--
Mr. Maclean:
Nor have hon. Members from Derbyshire any cause for complaint, as the settlement for that area was more than 4 per cent.
Mr. Barnes:
Will the Minister give way on that point?
Mr. Maclean:
No. Hon Members will have a chance to make their own speeches, and I wish to conclude in a moment.
The three elements that I have mentioned--the needs-based formula, the 3 per cent. rule and the extra officers rule--determine the allocations of police grant. The same needs-based formula determines the police standard spending assessment for each force. Police forces also receive a capital financing SSA and, where appropriate, an SSA reduction grant.
I stress that these are methods for carving up the total available funding, and are not prescriptions for the way in which funding must be spent in each force. That is quite rightly to be decided locally, and the granting of that local discretion was one of the key reforms in the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994. We have no intention now of trying to intervene to change that.
I have set out tonight an excellent settlement for the police service and a fair distribution of that settlement between the 43 police forces in England and Wales. Let me remind the House what we have done. We have allocated 4 per cent. more money, and forces will get at least 3 per cent. more--some will get much more than that. Forces will be able to recruit at least 1,000 more constables to add to the 900 constables that they have recruited this year. We have listened to criticisms of the funding formula and we have acted. There is more for pensions, rural sparsity has been taken into account and the out-dated establishment factor has been reduced.
Mr. Alun Michael (Cardiff, South and Penarth):
I am sure that the Minister of State would like to command this House--he has a remarkable talent for making complacency sound dramatic. He said that the chairman of the Police Federation welcomed the promise of 5,000 extra policemen. Indeed he did, but that was before the Police Federation looked at the detail. I wonder whether the Minister will take so seriously the comments that the Police Federation has made since it looked in detail at the settlement. The federation is very doubtful about the reality of that promise and it is right to be suspicious, as the Government have reneged on their promise at the 1992 general election to increase the number of police officers by 1,000. Indeed, by September 1995, the number of police officers had gone down by 470 compared with the figure in March 1992.
When the Government have failed signally to deliver the promise that they made at the last general election, is it any surprise that there is some suspicion when they say that they are going to deliver a promise of 5,000 additional police officers?
Mr. Walter Sweeney (Vale of Glamorgan):
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the failure of the South Wales police authority, which is controlled by three local, Labour-controlled county councils, was the real reason for the failure to fund the police in his constituency and in mine? Since the Home Office has given money direct to the police, we have had proper funding--an increase of about 19 per cent. in the past two years.
Mr. Michael:
It is nice of the hon. Gentleman to wander in and make that convoluted and inaccurate contribution. The problem with the funding of the South Wales police, as he knows, was the failure of the Welsh Office to deliver its share of the money and, indeed, its determined hiding of the standard spending assessment for the police--a matter that he knows full well was raised in the House on numerous occasions. The hon. Gentleman represents the party that damaged the police in his constituency and in mine.
I have some sympathy with the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, which had to consider the document so quickly. As was pointed out--last year, as well as this year--the document was published yesterday, which is surely not an aid to considered debate in the House.
I also agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) about the impact of social factors and unemployment on crime, and I shall return to that issue and its element within the formula.
The formula is not as perfect as the Minister of State made out. I thought that I heard him say that he would make whatever changes were necessary to achieve or maintain stability. The difficulty is getting a fair formula that is also stable over time. He was right to highlight the importance of the pensions element in the formula. I hope that that was a sign that he will move in the way that police authorities have requested and make that element accurate and transparent. It is an enormous burden on police authorities and it distorts all the figures year after year.
I also hope that there will be cross-party unity on police funding. The Minister has shown that he has the capacity to achieve that, for example, in relation to the Gwent and South Wales police and in the debates on the Offensive Weapons Bill and the Security Service Bill.
The fact that we have been given inaccurate information on the number of police is a great disappointment. The Minister was selective when he told us that there were 1,313 more constables, because the total number of police officers has decreased. The Government's claims about what they are doing in relation to the police contain two fraudulent elements: first, that they have increased the number of police officers; and, secondly, that they have given £20 million in new money to assist with the recruitment and employment of new officers.
At the time of the Budget, the Home Secretary claimed that he had increased the revenue cash by £20 million, but he had cut by almost £24 million the capital cash projected within the Home Office's plans--a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Peter less. [Interruption.] I am sorry, but I disagree. It is not funny; it is serious. The taking of money from the capital funds of police authorities will cause problems now and in the future.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice (Lewisham, East):
On that point, my hon. Friend is aware that a new police station was due to be built in Lewisham--amid some controversy, but nevertheless it was to be built in 1997. He may not be aware that the assistant commissioner,Ian Johnstone, has told us that there has been a reduction in the resources available for capital expenditure and that the police station will not be built before 1999 at the very earliest. Does that not confirm my hon. Friend's views on the changes between capital and revenue expenditure?
Mr. Michael:
Yes--that and the inability to undertake capital maintenance or introduce new technology, which, as we have pointed out a number of times, is essential in increasing the efficiency of the police service and the effectiveness with which officers are deployed on our streets. Although capital finances do not seem to be immediately important, they have an impact on the ability of the police to deliver a quality service to the public.
The total number of police officers decreased--the situation is even worse if we consider the number available for ordinary duty--between 31 March 1992 and 30 September 1995 by 860 in England and Wales.
Mr. Michael:
I shall repeat the number for the benefit of my hon. Friend. The number has fallen by 860. When one considers that the Government promised an increase of 1,000, one realises what Conservative promises are worth.
The Home Secretary boasted of handing over the cash and giving freedom to chief constables to choose how to spend it. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] Conservative Members say, "Hear, hear." The point was anticipated in last year's debate when the hon. Member for Ryedale(Mr. Greenway) asked the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean), to agree that
Not surprisingly, the Minister responded:
"if there are fewer police officers on the street after April this year it will be because of the decisions of chief constables, not because of Government funding."
"My hon. Friend is absolutely correct".--[Official Report,31 January 1995; Vol. 253, c. 956.]
30 Jan 1996 : Column 893
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