Extract from Business Questions - Feb 28

Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab): Cuts to police budgets have left my constituents in Hoyland well over eight miles from their nearest police station. May we have an urgent debate in Government time on how police funding should be based not on how much council tax can be paid, but on the actual demand in our community?

Leader of the House of Commons (Andrea Leadsom): The hon. Lady will be aware that since 2010, we have been tackling crime, reforming the police and toughening sentences for serious offences. We have protected police funding overall since 2015, and in the last police grant settlement we announced up to £970 million of extra investment in the policing system next year. That is more than Labour promised at the last election, and it is for Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate that money to meet the policing priorities in their area.