Police Funding Formula

I make no comment on the absence of the shadow Policing Minister. I am sure that he will come in ...

The Minister accepted accountability for the mistake, but as he will know from his experience on ...

The hon. Gentleman is right, and he made that point when we took evidence from various chief cons...

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that Wales has specific policing needs? He mentioned diversit...

The hon. Lady is right. That is the point the Committee makes in our report. Different areas have...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

This is the last time I will give way because I know that other Members want to speak.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. When he and his fellow Committee members we...

My hon. Friend is right, and not just from the point of view of what happens in Harrow, which is ...

It is a pleasure to take part in the debate and a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Le...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax). I have always e...

Speaking as an ex-serviceman, I watched the atrocities in Paris and noted that the police there, ...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We need to ensure that police forces work collaborat...

I welcome this report, and let me start by saying that the Minister was brave to tackle the issue...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Does he recognise that cuts being made in oth...

In fact, there is more mental health funding for front-line policing than there has ever been. It...

May I encourage the hon. Gentleman to oppose the merger of borough command units as well? If they...

I know that locally there will be mixed feelings if that is proposed in south-west London, but I ...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate and it is not lost on me that...

Will the hon. Gentleman echo the fact that the demand for policing in Luton is not restricted to ...

I am extremely glad I took the intervention, because the hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point,...

The hon. Gentleman talked about the cost savings between Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridg...

Absolutely. There is far greater space for collaboration. Equally, however, there are challenges ...

I want to begin by stating what Her Majesty’s inspector of constabulary for West Midlands police,...

The hon. Gentleman is citing the figures with which I supplied him, so I will not contradict

It is certainly true that the Minister gave me a glimpse of some of the figures and I am extremel...

We could ask the same question about the local government formula, which gives more money to Surr...

If we look at past form, we will see that that is certainly the implication. I was interested to ...

The answer is very simple. A special constable is an unpaid but warranted officer, the same as a ...

I am grateful to the Minister for that response, and perhaps he will show us the consultation tha...

Does the hon. Gentleman concede that that report stated that there had been an increase in the re...

I concede that the report actually said that certain types of sexual offences were being reported...

We know that the UK Government have consulted on the funding formula for police forces in England...

It is your own doing.

I can hear somebody chuntering from a sedentary position. If the hon. Gentleman wants to interven...

The fact is that the Scottish Government agreed to the VAT proposals.

For the avoidance of any doubt, I want to point out that although the Scottish Government were aw...

rose—

No. Perhaps the Minister will let me finish my point before he starts chuntering. The Scottish Go...

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rose—

If you do not like giving fair funding formulas to Scotland, you had your chance last September, ...

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I have dealt with that point comprehensively.

No you haven’t. You’ve just ignored it.

I have not ignored it.

Yes you have.

Order. If the hon. Lady wishes to give way, she will give way. If she does not want to give way, ...

I would simply add that holding an axe over someone’s head because they do not—

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. We are used to the breathtaking arrogance of the SNP in t...

As you well know from the numerous—[Interruption.] I will deal with it, Mr Arkless. It will be ea...

rose—

No, no, just sit down. Let us see if we can help. I want to progress the debate. I do not want it...

I was simply going to add that anyone in this Chamber would think, Mr Deputy Speaker, that a uniq...

Order. Do not bring the Chair into the argument because the Chair will not rule on the debate. I ...

The Scottish Police Authority, uniquely and therefore unfairly, is the only police authority in t...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, thank you. I want to progress beyond this point.

Uniquely and therefore unfairly, the S...

Because you didn’t ask for it!

Well, I’m asking for it now. Why do I mention all this, apart from the fact that it is about fair...

Because you’re a victim.

Order. Mr Jones, it will be easier if I can hear what is being said. I was hoping that you would ...

Apart from the fairness issue, I mention this matter today because this is a debate about managin...

Order. The hon. Lady craved my indulgence, which I have been very good and given. She answered he...

I take on board what you say, Mr Deputy Speaker, and having craved your indulgence and maximised ...

The hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) prayed for your indulgence, Mr Dep...

I asked the permanent secretary why the consultation was over such a short period when he gave ev...

I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. That is exactly what was going on. We were to have the f...

Like me, I am sure my hon. Friend recognises that the Minister is a pretty straightforward guy. G...

I agree with my hon. Friend—I will come back to that in a minute—but the real issue is that what ...

The hon. Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax) is not in the Chamber, which is regrettable. He c...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. That was exactly what was designed in the formula. The Go...

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is another issue that relates to vulnerable and deprived are...

I agree. That is another sleight of hand by the Chancellor. We have only to look at local governm...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to speak today. I did not speak in the...

Will the hon. Gentleman dissociate himself from the shadow Home Secretary’s comment, made of the ...

That was not the situation that the shadow Home Secretary described, and I think the hon. Gentlem...

Non-ring-fenced Departments were asked by the Chancellor to find cuts of up to 40%. If such cuts ...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I think we are seeing a lot of smoke and mirrors fr...

I took part in the debate last week, and I will repeat something that I said at the time. I want ...

Does what my hon. Friend is suggesting not reiterate that we are seeing something that is happeni...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that, but I am too much of a gentleman to call what the ...

My hon. Friend comes from a local government background, so does he also find it remarkable that,...

My hon. Friend just set out clearly the jiggery-pokery finances of this Government. That is what ...

rose—

No, I will not give way.

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker, this is completely unacceptable. I seek your guidance on ...

I think you already have.

Let me repeat that the right hon. Gentleman’s insouciant and dismissive attitude towards Members ...

The reason for that, as is clear in the Home Affairs Committee’s report, is that a civil servant ...

Yes, and made Inspector Clouseau look like a completely competent professional. The Committee, no...

The hon. Gentleman has pointed out, quite sensibly in my view, that nobody would volunteer to hav...

Let me return, if I may, to the Select Committee’s report. The outstanding understatement in a re...

I am delighted to see you in your place, Mr Speaker. May I assure you that this has been a very, ...

What nonsense.

I know that in Scotland the distinction between blue and red is becoming increasingly blurred, bu...

I thank all those who have spoken in the debate. My hon. Friends have detailed the impact of cuts...

I commend my hon. Friend for her work in that area. Does she agree that that puts pressure on reg...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that issue, which I have tried to raise in this Chamb...

I want to make a small point, which I hope the hon. Lady will be coming to. What would the Labour...

I wait for that day four years from now. If the hon. Gentleman gives us four years to plan for it...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Yes, she will—while she finds her place.

I can assure my hon. Friend that that was not at the forefront of my mind. She talked about the n...

My hon. Friend makes a very fair point. I am not going to get involved in the EU debate at this p...

May I welcome the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) to the Dispatch Box? I think she may...

Will the Minister give way?

In a moment. I just want to make a little progress and then I promise that I will give way, becau...

The Policing Minister has said that achieving a fair funding formula is incredibly complex, and h...

I will come on to the report’s recommendations. Whether we use the organisations referred to by t...

The Minister is right to raise the important issue of the pressures put on police forces by histo...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. Some forces have much larger percentage costs for h...

The Minister cannot have been listening to my speech, in which I praised the great leadership of ...

Durham has done more with less, and it has done so excellently. I agree with the hon. Gentleman c...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way now, but I will do so in a minute. Most of the debate was not about the futur...

Does the Minister acknowledge—let us use that word—that given what happened with the review of th...

Opposition Members can exacerbate that fear, but they cannot deny that I came to the House and at...

Will the Minister give way?

I give way to the hon. Member for Luton North—Luton South; my apologies.

We are only neighbours; it is fine. I accept that Bedfordshire, like all forces, will not be perf...

I have not suggested that. I have said time and again at this Dispatch Box and to the PCC and the...

The Minister has given us a pathway and timetable that we did not have before. Is he saying that ...

I am trying to be honest, as I always am when at the Dispatch Box or giving evidence to a Select ...

The Minister will remember from the opening remarks of my right hon. Friend the Member for Leices...

No Minister would stand and give such categorical responses—I cannot, because that would be wrong...

The Minister is right to say that crime has massively changed. Does he share my concern that when...

The National Audit Office suggested that that would be the case, and we have to accept that. That...

I know from my constituency that Dorset is working with Devon and Cornwall, and other police forc...

I hope I did not say that because that is not what I intended to say. I intended to say that forc...

I want to ask a question about what the Minister is trying to achieve. If he is doing that now, w...

I have broad shoulders, but they are not broad enough to take on the whole Treasury. However, the...

Will the Minister give way?

I will take an intervention in a minute, but we must try to understand that, if SNP Members put a...

I would make two points. First, when that person walks out of that bank and finds out that every ...

If someone signs a contract and has an agreement, they are tied into it. At the end of the day—[I...

Order. This is a disorderly way of proceeding. The hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Richard...

I am coming to a conclusion, not least because we debated this matter last week and two weeks bef...

This has been an excellent debate, with so many right hon. and hon. Members talking about their l...

I know that as an Arsenal supporter, you, Mr Speaker, will find it somewhat difficult to be liste...

Indeed, Mr Speaker, as we prepare, with the grace of God, for European football next year.

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