PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Crimes of Violence (18 April 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which (a) Police and Crime Commissioners and (b) Chief Constables have informed him in the last year that they require more funding to tackle serious violent crime.

Asked by:
Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)

The Home Secretary has regular meetings with senior police officers and Police and Crime Commissioners in which they discuss a range of issues, including serious violence.

We have engaged closely with the police about the additional complex demands they face, including from serious violence. In response, we increased funding for policing by over £1 billion this year, including the £100 million announced at Spring Statement to tackle serious violence which includes £80m of new funding from the Treasury.

This additional funding follows the Home Secretary’s roundtable on 6 March with senior police officers from Metropolitan Police, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, where they discussed what more can be done to tackle serious violence and the resources they needed to fight violent crime.

The majority of this additional investment will go towards supporting police forces where violent crime is impacting the most, to take immediate action to suppress the violence we are seeing, to make our streets safer. Officials are engaging with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners in relation to this funding.

Last year we also provided £4.6m of Special Grant funding to Bedfordshire Police to support Operation Boson, the force’s specialist response to gang, gun and knife crime.

Answered by:
Mr Nick Hurd (Conservative)
25 April 2019