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Police: Finance

Volume 463: debated on Monday 23 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been allocated to the police per head of population in (a) Sussex and (b) the South East of England for 2007-08. (151782)

The information requested is set out in the following table.

The Government do not distribute grant to police authorities purely on the basis of population. The police funding formula uses a range of data relating to demographic and social characteristics to reflect the relative needs of each authority. Grant allocations also take into account the relative tax base of each authority. Grant allocations are stabilised by damping to limit year-on-year variations.

Police authority

Total grants 2007-081 (£ million)

Resident population mid-20052 (million)

Funding per head of population 2007-08 (£)

Hampshire

233.17

1.81

128.82

Kent

235.37

1.62

145.29

Surrey

114.32

1.08

105.85

Sussex

198.89

1.52

130.85

Thames Valley

270.72

2.14

126.50

Total south-east of England

1,052.47

8.17

128.82

Total England

8,884.81

50.42

176.22

1 Total grants comprises: Home Office Police Grant, DCLG Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates; Special Formula grant, Specific Grants: Crime Fighting Fund, Neighbourhood Policing Fund, Basic Command Unit Fund, Community Support Officer Funding, Pension Deficit Grant and Dedicated Security Post funding and Capital provision (including the increased capital allocations announced on 24 May and 19 June 2007).

2 Population data sourced by the Office for National Statistics from the mid-2005 population estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable is for the full implementation of the agreed police funding formula without floors and ceilings. (152261)

Grant floors are an integral part of the local government finance system. A damping mechanism is applied to police formula grant allocations to protect all police authorities against financial instability and to ensure they all receive an increase in grant at least equal to the ‘floor’ level on a like-for-like basis year-on-year.

Any movement towards full implementation of the funding formula will depend on the overall amount of grant available for distribution. Decisions on police grant for 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be taken in the autumn.