Spending Round 2019: Home Office (HO)

Home Office (HO)

Table 2.4: Home Office

The Home Office settlement includes:

• a 6.3% increase in real terms to the department’s resource budget from 2019-20 to 2020-21. This is the largest planned annual growth rate in at least 15 years;

• 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), providing them with the resources they need to tackle serious violence, and make the UK’s streets safer. 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 will provide further detail on how these officers will be allocated between territorial police forces, counter-terrorism policing, and serious organised crime in due course;

• an additional £30 million to safeguard children from child sexual exploitation and abuse. Increasing funding for cutting-edge technology and the best intelligence and law enforcement capabilities will enable police officers to continue to target the worst and most sophisticated offenders;

• 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;

• £110 million additional funding, plus £65 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA), for the asylum system and continuing £150 million funding for the Global Resettlement Programme, to support and protect the most vulnerable refugees; and

• maintaining £480 million of Brexit funding in real terms, including continued funding for Border Force capability and delivery of the EU Settlement Scheme.

The government is committed to tackling crime and keeping the UK’s streets safe. The UK needs a system fit for the modern world in order to combat the highest harm crimes and the organised criminals who feel they can operate with impunity. The additional 20,000 police officers will give police forces more capacity to tackle this threat. However, given the scale and complexity of the threat, it is important to understand the best way for the government to respond.

The government will therefore undertake a formal review of the powers, capabilities, governance and funding needed across the policing and law enforcement landscape, including the National Crime Agency and the wider justice system, to enable it to improve its response to serious and organised crime in all its forms. This will report in advance of Spending Review 2020. The terms of reference for the review will be agreed between HMT and HO and announced in due course.