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Police Funding (Gloucestershire)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper) on securing the debate, and I am grateful for his best wishes to my hon. Friend the Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing, who had originally intended to respond to him. If my remarks do not address all the hon. Gentleman's points, my hon. Friend has agreed to meet him at a future date. That is on the record. This is a timely opportunity to discuss funding, both nationally and for Gloucestershire, shortly before we finalise the funding settlement for 2009-10. I hope that the hon. Gentleman and others will join me in paying tribute to the police authority, to the chief constable of Gloucestershire, Dr. Tim Brain, and to his force for all their efforts and the very real improvements that they have made to the safety of the people of Gloucestershire. I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows that there was a 19 per cent. fall in recorded crime between 2002-03 and 2007-08 in the Forest of Dean, with a 6 per cent. fall between 2006-07 and 2007-08. I shall say something about the funding picture generally, before turning to the specifics of Gloucestershire. My hon. Friend the Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing made a written ministerial statement on 26 November 2008, confirming that we intend to implement the funding settlement for 2009-10 broadly unchanged from that which was announced in December 2007. We announced provisional funding totals for three years, incorporating the period from 2008-09 to 2010-11, and police forces and police authorities very much welcome the extra certainty that three-year settlements bring, not least because they will help to improve their medium-term financial planning. In response to some of the hon. Gentleman's points, police forces and police authorities in general have welcomed the reduction in the number of targets from central Government and, indeed, the reduction in the ring-fencing of resources. We very much want decisions and resources to be determined locally by police forces and police authorities. Next year's funding settlement is built on a significant increase in resources for the police since 1997-98, and on a like-for-like basis, Government grant for the police will have increased by 60 per cent., or by more than £3.7 billion, during the period since then. All police authorities and forces will receive a minimum 2.5 per cent. increase in general formula grant, which makes up the great bulk of central Government support to the police. Those with greater relative need will receive a little more, and if we add specific grants, the overall increase in Government revenue support for policing in 2009-10 will be 2.8 per cent. That is a fair and affordable settlement for all police authorities, backed up by a programme of reform and modernisation and a continuing drive to cut bureaucracy. Chief constables and police authorities have maximum flexibility to make the best possible use of resources. The hon. Gentleman referred to concern about rising costs over the coming year. In the current economic climate, pressure will intensify on businesses to keep price increases to a minimum. Combined with expected reductions in oil and commodity prices, inflationary pressures are not the main issue facing the UK economy or police authorities. We have just completed the usual period of consultation on our funding proposals for next year. Consultation closed on 7 January. Gloucestershire police and police authority have chosen not to make representations about the funding settlement. We are currently considering the representations we have received before taking final decisions on the grant settlement for 2009-10. Hon. Members will have the usual opportunity to debate the final police grant settlement in the House in early February. Gloucestershire, like every other police force, has benefited from the solid funding settlements of the past few years. Assuming that, following the consultation process, the House approves the provisional allocations previously announced, next year Gloucestershire will receive £59.3 million in general grants—an increase of 2.5 per cent. or £1.5 million—and an estimated £9.7 million in specific grants. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have said that it is our intention to move to full implementation of the funding formula at the fastest pace that is compatible with ensuring the stability of police forces. Many forces that contribute to the funding floor are now pushing for greater or full implementation of the needs-based funding formula. Not unnaturally, police authorities such as Gloucestershire and my own in Northumbria that are supported by the funding floor want the protection to remain in place. We recognise that the funding floor is important. Gloucestershire has benefited for many years from a funding floor. This year, it receives £2.5 million more than its strict formula share and next year it will receive £2.4 million more. The damping mechanism operates to ensure that no police authority suffers a substantial change in funding from one year to the next. It is in no one's interest that one part of the country should suffer a sudden decrease in funding. That would be a recipe for instability. A fine line must be steered to ensure that we have both a stable finance system and that resources are targeted where there is greater relative need. For next year, the 2.5 per cent. grant floor will provide for stability and a degree of scaling above the floor, thus enabling us to target resources on areas with greater relative needs and implement the formula more fully. The hon. Gentleman is correct in saying that we intend to move towards an improved funding mechanism, but let me try to reassure him not only that we are aware of the concerns that he and his chief constable have raised, but that, in moving forward, we want to address those concerns wherever we can.