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Policing (City of London)

It is a legitimate point, and more than just a debating point, that the connection with education authorities has been positive as well as, more recently, detrimental to the headline figures. None the less, there is concern. The burdens on the City of London police are immense for a range of reasons about which the Minister and I agree, including the predominance of terrorism and the almost exponential increase of white-collar crime in a globalised financial and overall economy in recent years. Those are particularly strong burdens. As I mentioned in specific relation to licensing and the night-time economy, the reality is that the City of London police take on some of the burden that would otherwise be dealt with by the Metropolitan police or any of the other police authorities. I had that in mind rather than just the specific figures, because, as I mentioned, the police-specific grant will be reduced in this financial year, partly because of the floor relating to education authorities.