Police Grant Report 2025-02-05

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Does the Minister welcome the fact that threats to reduce the number of police community support officers in Essex have been withdrawn, and will she recognise the £27 million in extra funding for Essex police?

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In Norfolk, four officers on duty over 2,000 square miles is insufficient due to a £4 million funding gap. Why is the Minister not giving Norfolk and other rural areas the settlement they need?

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How much of the uplift will be taken up by increased national insurance contributions as a result of Labour’s policy?

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Does extra funding for Welsh police forces plug gaps left by Labour's reduction of police community support officer funding? Is it time to review police funding in Wales and consider devolution?

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How will the extra funding bolster neighbourhood policing teams to tackle retail crime and shoplifting?

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Why does the shadow Minister seem to have a new moral high ground now compared to his former stance on similar issues?

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When has the shadow Minister previously mentioned police funding?

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Will the shadow Minister give way?

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I just thought it might be helpful if I gave the shadow Minister a reminder.

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On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The shadow Minister suggested that I had misled the House.

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I begin by putting on record my congratulations to Trevor Rodenhurst, the chief constable of Bedfordshire police, on being awarded the King’s Police Medal for distinguished service.

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I rise today to address some of the urgent issues affecting communities across the country. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home and while walking through their own neighbourhood, but for many people in the UK today, that is simply not the reality.

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As a vet who spends time in rural areas, he expressed his concern over the lack of specificity regarding rural crime in the provisional police grant report. He asked if the Minister shared his concerns.

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He thanked the Minister for her speech and highlighted the consequences of 14 years of Conservative cuts, which led to rising crime rates and the closing down of police stations. He urged the Government to bring back community policing and adequately resource it.

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She welcomed increased funding but argued it did not go far enough to deliver safe policing in London. She highlighted ongoing issues of crime and antisocial behaviour, lack of detailed investigations by the Met due to cuts, and the loss of police stations affecting community-police connections.

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I associate myself with the remarks of my right hon. Friend the Minister on the tragic loss of Harvey Willgoose, and extend my deepest condolences to his family... Thanks to this Labour Government, residents in Gedling will be the beneficiaries of a much-needed funding increase for Nottinghamshire police... That is in stark contrast to the previous Conservative police and crime commissioner of Nottinghamshire, who spent more time defending her own speeding offences than tackling people offending by speeding on our roads...

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While I am grateful for the additional funding outlined in the Police Grant Report, it is clear that it does not go far enough... It fails to account for the very real challenges that rural policing presents, including the difficulty of maintaining a visible police presence over vast geographical areas... The formula also fails to take account of seasonality and the impact of tourism... Despite evidence-backed requests, submitted last August, for an additional £12.2 million in annual funding, the Government have failed to provide that essential support...

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I join my hon. Friend in thanking the Minister for her unwavering support during the troubles last summer, which was appreciated by me and other Members of Parliament whose constituencies were affected...

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My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is critical that when discussing crime and social tensions, we express ourselves in this place and outside with the greatest care... (Full response as provided)

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When it comes to the police, politicians are all too eager to demand more and more while giving less and less. Years of failure and ineffective resourcing from the previous Conservative Government have left police forces across the country overstretched, understaffed and unable to focus on the crimes that impact our communities the most...

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I thank the Minister for her update on the settlement... I start by thanking Leicestershire police’s chief constable, Rob Nixon, and all his officers and staff for their dedicated service locally...

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I want to thank the police officers and PCSOs of the Metropolitan police, who bravely serve the communities of Leyton and Wanstead. I also want to thank the Minister for her leadership in this area... We welcome the Government’s significant investment in our police services, which is much needed after a decade in which real-terms funding for the Metropolitan police was cut by £1.2 billion...

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I very much welcome this police settlement, and I shall focus my remarks specifically on Essex. From 2010 onwards, the Conservatives cut 350 PCSOs in Essex... That is a huge relief not only to those PCSOs and their families, but to our residents whom they so brilliantly support...

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As I am sure Members know, Southend and Rochford is an area of immense cultural heritage... That is why I was shocked when, last week, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Essex announced the sacking of all 99 PCSOs across Essex...

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I hugely welcome this police funding settlement on behalf of all my constituents in Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield... The report commits up to £19.5 billion to policing in England and Wales, an increase of over £1 billion compared with the previous year...

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I thank the hon. Member for everything he is saying about improved policing on our streets... Does he agree that opening that custody centre would make a huge difference to my constituents?

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We have heard a great deal from Members across the House about the grant and the impact it will have on various communities... Does the Minister think the £100 million announced will be enough to stop those cuts?

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Asked how much the national insurance tax raid will cost her local police force, and questioned whether taxes do not pay for public services.

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Asked whether reducing response police numbers to bolster neighbourhood policing would improve or reduce response times.

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Made a remark about previous statements being incorrect.

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She is talking about funding in the west midlands and I am also a west midlands MP. How does she think that the whopping bill that the west midlands force will face from employer national insurance contributions will impact on its budget? When it comes to money, if she is so passionate about neighbourhood policing, as indeed am I, what assurances can she give that funding from the abhorrent sale of Aldridge police station will come back into services for residents of Aldridge-Brownhills?

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Will the Minister give way?

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I am trying to make a constructive point about the Minister’s remarks on efficiencies. She said that there are huge opportunities for efficiencies to be made. Much of the debate has been on funding, but she is signalling that things can be done better. What is opaque to me, not least from the conversation that I had with my own police and crime commissioner before coming here, is what productivity targets the Government have set and what variation they expect to close across the 43 police forces. How many police hours does she expect to be freed up from working more efficiently on productivity gains? Or are the Government’s actions adding bureaucracy and red tape and making it harder for police forces to deliver?