Police (Greater Manchester)

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 3:43 pm on 15 March 2005.

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Photo of Fiona Mactaggart Fiona Mactaggart Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) 3:43, 15 March 2005

Of course we should look at recorded crime, and although we cannot get a long-term series of figures because of the changes in recorded crime, one of the things that those figures do is show where we need to make our effort in dealing with crime; one of those areas is violent crime, which is why we are focusing on it. The common experience of crime is most accurately shown by the British crime survey, which surveys victims of crime. If we are to put the victim at the heart of our criminal justice system, which is what we should be doing, we should use figures that accurately capture the experience of the victim.

I am pleased that the Opposition did not seek to divide the House on the police funding settlement for 2005–06, because it was a good one. It was, indeed, better than predicted by many, including people in Greater Manchester. Within that settlement, Greater Manchester police got £412.5 million in general grants, which is an increase on the previous year of 4.9 per cent., or £19.3 million, including an extra £800,000 from the amending report, which makes for an overall increase of 5.1 per cent.

That is substantially higher than the 3.75 per cent. funding floor increase guaranteed for all police authorities, and it is above the police pay increase of 3 per cent. and non-pay inflation of about 2.6 per cent. In addition, there is over £32 million in specific grants for targeted funding and a further £10.9 million in capital provision. Of the £32 million in specific grants, more than half is from the crime fighting fund specifically to help to maintain record police officer numbers.

The situation is significantly better for Greater Manchester police than it was during the previous year when their grant was a broadly standard rate increase in common with other police authorities. Some claim that 5.1 per cent. is insufficient, but I am confident that it is a favourable outcome for Greater Manchester police.

The budget set by the police authority of £493.9 million for 2005–06 is an increase of £25 million or 5.3 per cent. We have provided the necessary resources to enable police authorities to produce an increase in activity to sustain the increased police numbers that we have advanced, and to deliver the improvements in policing. We have also asked the police service to make efficient use of its resources by making value-for-money improvements of over £1 billion—about 3 per cent. per year starting in 2005–06.

The police service has a good record of achieving efficiency gains in recent years, and collaborative procurement is one of the key themes of the tripartite police efficiency strategy. I congratulate Greater Manchester police on saving over £600,000 from regional collaboration on the purchase of body armour. It is through such initiatives that further resources can be released for front-line policing efforts. Releasing officers to the front line is an important element in the police efficiency strategy, and GMP have carried out a best value review which will help to identify opportunities for such redeployment in the force.