Police Settlement (Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats)

Police Settlement

February 10, 2009 12:00 AM
By Peter Black in Plenary

Peter Black: I share the concerns that have been expressed by previous speakers with regard to the funding available, in particular that for South Wales Police. All the local Members had the opportunity to be briefed by the chief constable on the impact of the present financial settlement on the force. South Wales Police has made the point that it has the lowest level of council tax precept of the four police forces in Wales, despite the fact that it is the biggest force and provides a number of strategic services of which other Welsh forces take advantage.

The Minister referred to the fact that the Welsh Assembly Government funding for the police is linked to the funding from the Home Office. As Dai Lloyd said, this is effectively a non-devolved service to which we, as an Assembly, are contributing a significant amount of money. In that sense, it is difficult to see how we can influence the amount of resources and money that the police forces have available, other than by increasing the sum of the grant from the Assembly Government.

However, the issue with this settlement lies in the criteria for when he will cap the police forces in Wales, which the Minister is consulting upon. Although this is a non-devolved service, which we happen to put a substantial amount of money into, the capping criteria that the Minister is consulting upon are significantly different from those in England. In England, a police force has to breach two criteria in order to be capped: a 5 per cent increase in budget requirement, and a 5 per cent increase in the council tax charged on a band D property. In Wales, a 5 per cent increase in council tax for a band D property also applies, but we are looking at a 2.8 per cent increase in budget requirement between 2008-09 and 2009-10. That means tying the hands of police forces to a much greater extent in Wales than in England.

That would not matter were it not for the fact that South Wales Police, having been given notice of its three-year budget, having planned and put in place a three-year pay settlement, and, with a full understanding of its financial situation, having brought in many efficiency savings as possible, has identified a £6 million funding gap for next year. It is forced to look at laying off front-line police officers, possibly closing down its mounted police units-which are provided to other forces in Wales-as well as losing its police dogs. That is simply in order to make ends meet.

That police force is planning a 9.75 per cent increase in council tax precept next year, or 2p per day, to band D council tax payers around Wales. Normally, I would say that that increase is excessive, but when I think of the consequences of insufficient funding of the police force in south Wales-or any other part of Wales-in terms of front-line policing, the services available to the public, and the potential increase in crime, then it is only reasonable that South Wales Police should have the opportunity to discuss that sort of increase to catch up, as it were, with the other forces, and to ensure that it has the resources necessary to deliver policing for the south Wales area, which is the biggest police force area in Wales in terms of population.

That is why I am disappointed and concerned that the Minister has adopted different criteria from those in England, and that he has tied the hands of South Wales Police so that, effectively, it cannot go for the increase that it had planned. That would have given it a budget increase of less than 5 per cent-or 4.7 per cent to be precise-and so it would not have been in breach of the capping criteria in England. That may well be an anomaly of the situation in which we find ourselves, with the Assembly Government funding a non-devolved service. However, it is a matter of concern for everyone in south Wales that they may get inadequate policing and cuts in front-line policing because the capping criteria were applied in that way.

Dai was talking about the Barnett formula, but this is a matter that is in the Minister's hands. He can influence how the South Wales Police and other police forces deliver for the council tax, and I ask him to reconsider the capping criteria.

Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats