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Council Tax Capping (Surrey)

I am delighted that you are our Chairman, Mr. Fraser. I am also delighted to have so many of my colleagues here—they look a little like a Maori Haka troupe, and I hope that the Minister will take note of that. We have a mascot as well—[Interruption.] Perhaps I should wait until the Minister is seated and listening. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this subject for debate. I think that I am correct in saying that every Surrey MP, whether they are here or not, backs what I have to say. We have deep concerns about the effects of capping and the re-billing of the capped council tax, which the Government have, as anticipated, demanded. We all realise that the order that is required to introduce capping has yet to be introduced, and the Minister may feel even more limited in what he can say, but I have called the debate to persuade him that if he continues with capping by introducing the order, he should do so in such a way as not to require re-billing. He also needs to recognise that all of us in Surrey believe in value for money and in protecting the council tax payer. In looking at the effects of capping on Surrey police and of the pending requirement to re-bill all Surrey for its council tax, I need to do a certain amount of scene setting. Surrey police are a county force, but with metropolitan challenges. They describe the county as a target-rich environment, with a disproportionate number of high-risk potential targets. Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary says that Surrey police are in the top half of our country's forces in terms of the threat from organised crime. With the county being criss-crossed by some of the busiest motorways in Europe, and with Heathrow on one side and Gatwick on the other, the threats are obvious. Surrey's close proximity to London explains why approximately half the criminal activity in the county is perpetrated by those living outside it. To take one example from last year, Surrey tackled 17 organised crime groups, of which 12 were London based. That cost Surrey at least £40 million. The police grant for Surrey is the lowest per head in the country. As a consequence, council tax payers, unlike those in every other police authority, share the cost of our police at a ratio of 49: 51. Furthermore, there has been a year-on-year real-terms reduction in police grant over the past 12 years. Surrey police have responded, as we would hope, by delivering more in a better way and for less. A recent Audit Commission assessment of the authority's value for money gave Surrey police the highest rating in 2007-08. The commission's report said:""When compared to similar forces Surrey Police receives a very low level of grant funding from central government and has the lowest expenditure per Band D property of any force in England and Wales. The high level of performance from a relatively low level of funding demonstrates excellent value for money to the taxpayer"." During its inspections last year, HMIC also gave the performance of Surrey police a glowing report. More importantly perhaps, ratings from victims who were surveyed and from the general public give Surrey police a satisfaction rate of more than 80 per cent. Surrey police work on the basis of being a modern, innovative police force. They have led the way in developing neighbourhood policing, work force modernisation and common-sense policing.