Andrew Dismore

Question No: 2018/3277

Andrew Dismore

What was the cost to the Met Police of President Trump’s recent visit? Have the Government funded this cost, or will they in the future? Have you had any such discussion with the Home Office?

Written response from the Mayor

A special grant claim for the costs of policing President Trump’s visit has been lodged with the Home Office. The gross cost is £3.2m including opportunity costs of £1.8m.  We await the Home Office decision as to funding.

Question No: 2018/3278

Andrew Dismore

Now that the Chancellor and Prime Minister have announced the end of austerity, have they cancelled their impending cuts to the Met police budget? What is the cumulative total of the cuts so far and those to come over the next three years?

Written response from the Mayor

The Chancellor’s Budget last month did not announce any increase in police funding. As a result of Government cuts the Metropolitan Police have been forced to make savings of £720m over recent years with a further £325m savings required by 2021. This is before accounting for an additional pressure of £130m per year from 2020 due to government changes to police and public sector pensions. It is crucial that the Home Secretary delivers his aspiration to make more money available for the police in the 2019-20 Police Funding Settlement in December.

Question No: 2018/3279

Andrew Dismore

In his budget speech, the Chancellor said: “The Home Secretary will review police spending power and further options for reform when he presents the provisional police funding settlement in December.” What are the implications of this for London?

Written response from the Mayor

Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Question No: 2018/3280

Andrew Dismore

What is the cost to the Met of the police pay increase, if not reimbursed by the Government; what was the cost of last year’s pay increase; and how would this de facto cut in funding translate into numbers of police constables?

Written response from the Mayor

I am pleased that the capital’s hard-working police officers receive pay rises that they so truly deserve. We have the best police service in the world and they deserve to be paid properly – but with no additional funds to pay for it, the already stretched budgets will face greater pressure and inevitably mean cuts elsewhere.

Last financial year, the cost of the police officer pay award was £28.1m. This equates to approximately 468 officers.

This financial year the cost of the Met of the police officer pay increase was £28.8m. This equates to approximately 480 officers.

Question No: 2018/3281

Andrew Dismore

What is the cost to the Met of the change in police pension contributions, if not reimbursed by the Government; and how would this de facto cut in funding translate into numbers of police constables?

Written response from the Mayor

Home Office officials have informed police forces that they expect the pension contribution changes to result in increased employer contributions of £165m in 2019/20 and £417m in 2020/21 onwards.

If these figures are correct the MPS have estimated it will represent a £43 million unfunded cost in 2019-20, then £108 million in 2020-21 and the years which follow.

On top of this there are likely to be further costs associated with an increase in employer contributions to police staff pensions. These costs are less clear at this stage, but the Met’s current estimate is around £9 million in 2019-20, then £22 million in 2020-21 and beyond.

This approximately equates to over 850 officers in 2019/20 and over 2,150 officers from 2020/21 onwards.

I have written to the Prime Minister to express my concern about the implications of these unfunded costs on the Met’s budget.

Question No: 2018/3282

Andrew Dismore

What is the Met’s clear up rate by way of sanctioned detection for all reported crime for the last 12 months and the previous rolling 12 months; are you satisfied with this; and if not, what are you doing to improve it?

Written response from the Mayor

The SD rate for Total Notifiable Offences Nov ‘16-Oct ‘17 was 14.6%. For the same period 17-18 SD rate was 11%.

The MPS have committed to improving SD rates. With the introduction of Mi Investigation, all Frontline Police Officers are being developed to be effective crime Investigators. This ensures that trained Detectives can use their enhanced investigative skills to focus on Serious and Complex Crime. The MPS are investing in intelligence units supporting operational officers and in conjunction with this, aiming to maximise forensic opportunities at crime scenes: Increasing training and forensic awareness throughout the investigative process, including the point of first contact at METCC and TDIU. The MPS are also improving the way they progress positive identification of offenders from forensics, embedding senior forensics managers to each BCU.

Question No: 2018/3283

Andrew Dismore

What is the Met’s clear up rate by way of sanctioned detection for domestic burglary for the last 12 months and the previous rolling 12 months; are you satisfied with this; and if not, what are you doing to improve it?

Written response from the Mayor

Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.