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Police Authorities (Funding)
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce the allocations of police grant for police authorities in England and Wales for 2002–03. [20986]
Mr. Denham: I have today placed in the Library a copy of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's proposals for allocation of police grant for 2002–03. My right hon. Friend and I intend to implement the proposals subject to consideration of any representations we receive about them, and to the approval of the House.
We are taking the opportunity to outline the wider provision for support for the police service. This includes not only Total Standard Spending (TSS), supported by police grant and revenue support grant, but also provision
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for capital, specific initiatives (Crime Fighting Fund, Rural Policing, Airwave) and operational and administrative support directly provided by the Home Office.
The total provision made in Spending Review 2000 for policing in 2002–03 is £9,010 million. The overall increase on provision for 2001–02 is 6.1 per cent. It builds on an increase in 2001–02 of 10.1 per cent.
The increase in provision directly available to police authorities, for TSS, specific initiatives and capital grant and supplementary credit approvals is 5 per cent. In addition, there are increases in provision of services provided centrally for the police service—training, information technology, communications and scientific support.
We propose to distribute the settlement as follows:
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ million(26) | £ million(26) | £ million(26) | Percentage | |
| Total SR2000 provision | 8,495 | 9,010 | 515 | 6.1 |
| This comprises: | ||||
| 1. Direct funding for police authorities | ||||
| Total standard spending(27) | 7,568 | 7,777 | 209 | 2.8 |
| Specific initiatives | 229 | 349 | 120 | 51.4 |
| Capital | 232 | 310 | 78 | 33.6 |
| 8,029 | 8,436 | 407 | 5.0 | |
| 2. Centrally provided services | 91 | 167 | 76 | 83.1 |
| 3. Central administration | 211 | 204 | -7 | -3.3 |
| 4. NCS/NCIS | 164 | 203 | 39 | 23.8 |
| Grand total | 8,495 | 9,010 | 515 | 6.1 |
(26) Rounded to £ million
(27) The original 2001–02 provision has been adjusted for National Crime Squad (NCS) and the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS)
Police funding proposals within the local government finance system are being announced today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. An announcement has also been made in the National Assembly for Wales. These proposals together would provide total standard spending on the police in England and Wales of £7,777.199 million, an increase of £209 million or 2.8 per cent. on the adjusted TSS for 2001–02.
The National Crime Squad (NCS) and the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) perform a valuable role in the battle against serious crime as part of the overall policing service. The NCS brought together the previous regional crime squads into a single unit, providing direction and control and making it easier to deploy resources effectively to prevent and detect serious crime and tackle major criminals operating in one or more police force areas in England and Wales. The role of NCIS is to develop intelligence to combat serious and organised crime, providing both tactical and strategic intelligence and expertise for law enforcement, Government and other relevant agencies at a national and international level. At present these services are financed mainly by a levy on police authorities set by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. From 2002–03 the services will be funded centrally. The new approach achieves transparency in the funding arrangements for the service authorities. Provision for the services in 2002–03 has been made from TSS. TSS for 2001–02 has been adjusted in the previous table to ensure comparability.
The increase in TSS is 2.8 per cent., but increases for individual authorities vary. The formula used to determine the distribution of grant/Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) is again unchanged. The main reasons for differences between authorities result from changes in the data applied from one year to the next. These include changes in population, unemployment, projected pensions' commitments and the area cost adjustment.
We propose that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) should continue to receive additional funding in recognition of its distinct national and capital city functions. It has proved very difficult for the principal formula to take account of these special circumstances. As in previous years a special payment of grant will be made to the MPS above that given through the principal grant formula. The amount has been set at £197 million, which is included in the total provision.
It is proposed to make a final year's special payment of grant to the following authorities for additional costs incurred as a result of changes in Metropolitan Police District boundaries in April 2000, as follows:
- Hertfordshire: £300,000
Surrey: £800,000.
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2001–02, by applying a "floor" or minimum increase of 2.3 per cent., in line with inflation. The associated TSS allocations are given in table 3.
The following items are not part of the annual grant settlement but demonstrate the wider range of support provided to police authorities.
Crime Fighting Fund (CFF): through the CFF resources are being provided for a programme of recruitment over and above forces previous plans. The programme has so far lived up to expectations. £221 million is included in 2002–03 to continue funding around 6,000 recruits from 2000–01 to 2001–02 and to support a further 3,000 to be recruited in 2002–03.
Rural Policing Fund: as in 2001–02, £30 million is provided for the particular needs of more rural forces through the rural policing fund.
Airwave: £65 million will be available for the start-up operational costs of authorities taking Airwave in 2002–03 and to enable those forces who have the Airwave service to purchase additional menu services from BT.
London and South East Payments: £33 million in total is provided for funding of free train travel for all Metropolitan and City of London officers; funding of 75 per cent. of the cost of the increase of £3,327 a year in London allowance paid to officers in the Metropolitan and City of London forces who were recruited on or after 1 September 1994 and who are not in receipt of housing emoluments, and an allowance for other forces in the south-east.
The main items are as follows:
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I intend to increase provision of capital grant and supplementary credit approvals from £157.43 million in 2001–02 to £209.43 million in 2002–03. The increase is substantial, and police authorities will be asked to direct a significant proportion of the extra provision towards improvement of their estate, as well as providing for other capital assets such as vehicles and equipment.
Capital grants (up to £76 million) for introduction to Airwave will be made available to those authorities taking up the radio communications service in 2002–03. Similar arrangements were made for 2001–02 and will be made for 2003–04.
The main elements are CFF training costs (£23 million); DNA expansion programme (£61 million); The Airwave contractor's core service charges (£50 million); and the National Strategy for Police Information Systems (£27 million).
These include Home Office costs attributable to policing such as the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and National Police Training facilities.
Enhanced security since 11 September
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Additional provision of £30 million has also been made through the pre-Budget review for the police response during the current year to events of 11 September in the United States of America. We are considering further any longer term implications for policing.
The settlement continues to take account of our commitment to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the police service. Future grant allocations will be considered in the light of police authorities improving efficiency by 2 per cent., reprioritising use of resources in favour of front-line policing.
In addition to the resources which I have detailed specifically for policing, police forces share in and benefit from various wider programmes for crime reduction. For example, since April 1999, under the Crime Reduction Programme, over £390 million has been invested in the running and evaluation of over 1,450 crime-fighting projects. These will provide an evidence base on what methods, employed by the police and their crime and disorder partners, are the most effective in tackling crime and its causes.
(28) Rounded to the nearest £100,000. Grant as would be calculated under the Local Government Finance Report (England) and Local Government Finance Report (Wales). This includes the Metropolitan police special payment, and the effects of floors and ceilings. Debt Charges adjustments are added to the 2001–02 grant figures for England.
(29) Figures for the City are excluded because these are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions. GLA is included but it includes all functions (eg fire)
Notes:
1. Because of the transfer of responsibilities for NCIS/NCS, the total available for distribution has been adjusted for 2001–02 to ensure like-to-like comparison with 2002–03.
2. Special payments for transitional costs associated with changes to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District from 1 April 2000.
3. Capital Financing SSAs as would be calculated under the Local Government Finance Report (England) and Local Government Finance Report (Wales).
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(30) Rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Allocation is the sum of: Police Grant, Transitional Grant, Police SSA, and Capital Finance SSA. Figures for Capital Finance SSA are provisional.
(31) Figures for the Metropolitan police include its Special Payment.
(32) Figure for the City include Police SSA and Police Grant only and excludes other SSAs (eg Capital Financing) and Central Support Protection Grant. These are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.
Note:
Because of the transfer of responsibilities for NCIS/NCS, the total available for distribution has been adjusted for 2001–02 to ensure like-to-like comparison with 2002–03.
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