Tackling crime
The government is committed to tackling crime and keeping people
safe. To support this, the Spending Round confirms for 2020-21:
-
an extra £750 million for policing to begin delivery of the
government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional officers
by 2023 (up to 6,000 officers are to be in place by the end
of 2020-21). In addition, the government is spending £45
million in 2019-20 to kick start recruitment, bringing in up
to 2,000 additional officers this year. The Home Office
(HO) will provide further
detail in due course on how these officers will be allocated
between the territorial police forces, counter-terrorism
policing and serious and organised crime;
-
increasing the budget for counter-terrorism policing in line
with inflation, including continuing the additional £160
million announced at Budget 2018, which maintains current
counter-terrorism capability and protects officer numbers;
-
funding to begin delivery of the government’s £2.5 billion
commitment to create an additional 10,000 prison places,
which forms an important part of the government’s wider work
to reduce crime;
-
£100 million to increase security in prisons through the
introduction of more airport-style security scanners, mobile
phone detection and prevention technology, and
anti-corruption and intelligence operations;
-
£55 million for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and £80 million for the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to support the work
of the 20,000 additional police officers and manage the
increasing complexity of crime; and
-
additional funding for crucial probation reforms that will
help reduce reoffending and improve post-custody supervision.
