(Walsall South) (Lab):
...The Office for National Statistics has, yet again, had
to reprimand the Prime Minister for using statistics in a
misleading way—this time, on police funding. The Leader of the
House wrote a letter on 19 February to my hon. Friend the Member
for Halifax (Holly Lynch) in which she repeated that inaccuracy.
Will the Leader of the House apologise today for that inaccuracy or
place a letter of apology in the Library?..
The Leader of the House of Commons (Andrea Leadsom):...On
the UK Statistics Authority and police funding, I want to be very
clear that the police funding settlement for 2018-19 that we set
out delivers an increase in overall police funding. We aim to
communicate that as clearly as possible to the public and have said
repeatedly that about £270 million of the up to £450 million
increase in police funding next year results from increased council
tax precept income, which is dependent on Police
and Crime Commissioners’ decisions. Since the
funding settlement, almost all PCCs have decided to use this
flexibility to raise extra precept income. That said, the Home
Office chief statistician will carefully consider the suggestions
from the UK Statistics Authority...
(Sheffield, Heeley)
(Lab):The Leader of the House’s response on police
funding was disappointing. The Prime Minister and the Home Office
have repeatedly made it clear that £450 million will be made
available from the Government, which is why the UK Statistics
Authority ruled that they would lead the public to believe that.
Not a single penny is being made available from central
Government. The Leader of the House went further than that in a
letter to my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Holly Lynch),
stating that more money would be available, on top of the £450
million. Will she therefore take this opportunity to apologise to
the House and make it clear that not one penny is going from
central Government on our much-stretched, overworked local police
forces?
: Whether the source
of taxpayer funding is central Government or local government, it
is still taxpayer funding. We have been clear that £270 million
of the up to £450 million increase would result from increased
council tax precept income—something that Police and Crime
Commissioners have, for the most part, decided to take advantage
of. [Interruption.] It is really important: this is all taxpayer
funding, whether it comes from central or local government.
