As MPs prepare to debate the government’s grant to police authorities in England and Wales, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, this morning issued his clearest warning yet that the Government’s refusal to fully fund London’s police service is putting the capital’s safety at risk.
The Met spends some £346m a year on work to police London as a major global capital and the seat of Government. This includes diplomatic protection, and policing major events such as protests, concerts, football matches and state visits such as the upcoming visit of the President of the United States of America.
The Home Office should reimburse Londoners for this work through the National and International Capital Cities Grant (NICC), but currently underfunds London by around £172m a year. When the Home Office’s own expert panel reviewed the figures it suggested the Met should receive £281m a year. So, on either calculation, the Met is significantly short-changed.
Today, as MPs debate and then vote on the Government’s police grant for 2017/18, the Mayor is calling on them to join him in making the case in the strongest possible terms that this continued underfunding is putting the capital at risk.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “As Mayor, the safety and protection of our capital city and all Londoners is my number one priority - particularly in the wake of the recent terrible attacks across Europe and elsewhere in the world. This means keeping officer numbers as high as possible with a strategic target of 32,000.
“But this is becoming increasingly difficult as the Government continues to consistently underfund the Met.
“Ministers’ refusal to reimburse Londoners for work already undertaken to police London as a global capital city, is risking the safety of all Londoners.
“Today, I urge MPs to join me in making the case for London in the strongest possible terms, and join me once again in calling on the Government to rethink their decision not to provide the funds we need to keep London safe.”
Sadiq Khan’s first priority is keeping Londoners safe, especially in light of growing security risks. This means keeping officer numbers as high as possible with a strategic target of 32,000 officers. But the Government’s continued refusal to fully fund the Met is making this increasingly difficult and putting Londoners at risk.
The Mayor has done everything in his power to meet the challenge and this year, has made the difficult decision to increase council tax, and used other council tax receipts, to provide an additional £27.8 to maintain officer numbers. But this alone is not enough.
In addition to the underfunding of the National and International Capital Cities Grant, the Met has already had to find £600m of savings since 2010. To date, these have led to the loss of 2,800 police staff, including hundreds of Police Community Support Officers, and the closure of dozens of police stations.
A further £400m savings are to be found over the next few years and the Mayor has asked the Met to go even further in restructuring and reducing back office costs to make efficiency savings.
The Met could also stand to lose millions from its annual budget when, later this year, the Home Office changes the police funding formula which allocates resources to forces across the country.
Last time the formula was reviewed, in Autumn 2015, the Met stood to lose between £184m and £700m.
Last week, the outgoing Met Commissioner also voiced his concerns on the issue, saying thousands of police officers could be lost and services rationed if budgets are slashed.
Notes to editors
- London spends £346m a year on activity linked to our position as a major global capital. The Met is supposed to receive full compensation for this work so that Londoners don’t pay the cost. However, London currently only receives £174m a year - £172m short.
- The average London council tax payer pays £61 a year to subsidise this national work.
- The Home Office’s own panel looked into this and suggested the Met should receive £281m a year, but Ministers refused.