Mayor proposes council tax increase due to ‘lack of government funding’ for MPS
The Mayor of London said he has been left with “little choice” but to increase council tax next year to provide urgent funding to the police and London’s other vital public services.
Sadiq Khan said it follows the Government’s failure to properly fund the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), London Fire Brigade (LFB) and Transport for London.
He said policing in London will get just over half the percentage increase in government funding next year compared with the rest of the country
Mr Khan said over recent months, the MPS has had to bear even more pressure than usual for its “unique national policing activities”.
“It’s currently dealing with the greatest period of sustained pressure on its resources since the Olympics in 2012, with a large increase in the number of marches, protests and national events taking place in the capital,” he said.
“But the Government has refused to provide the additional funding needed, instead confirming that it will be maintaining the National and International Capital Cities (NICC) grant for 2024/25 at £185 million – a real-terms cut.
“These national policing responsibilities should be fully funded by the Government, not Londoners.”
Mr Khan said the MPS has outlined that the annual funding shortfall to support the additional costs of policing a capital city is now around £240 million. This is having a “tangible impact” on the service the it can provide Londoners, adding huge financial pressure to an already stretched police service that has faced over a decade of cuts by the government, said the mayor.
Overall, the Government’s policing settlement for London, which was published on December 14, confirms that the MPS’s funding will increase by only 3.5 per cent next year compared with six per cent across the rest of the country.
Due to the continued lack of national investment in London, the additional pressure the MPS is facing and the need to ensure the urgent cultural and performance police reforms can continue at pace, the mayor said he is planning to “step in” by increasing the policing precept part of council tax by £13 per year – the equivalent of £1.08 a month (Band D).
The mayor’s budget consultation proposes investing £1.056 billion of council tax and business rates funding to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in 2024/25 – a nearly 80 per cent increase in annual funding compared to the previous mayor.
“Historically, more than 80 per cent of funding for the police in London comes from national Government and less than 20 per cent from regional government,” said Mr Khan. “But because of the inadequate funding from national Government, the share of funding from City Hall for the police is now close to a quarter.”
The Mayor is also planning in his proposals for an increase of 2.99 per cent in the non-police precept, allocated in full to the LFB, to ensure it can continue to respond quickly to major fires and continue to make the changes needed after the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. This is the equivalent of 36p a month (Band D).
Mr Khan will formally propose council tax levels for 2024/25 in January. However, he said it is clear from the Government’s recent policy statements that its “underfunding of London’s key public services will continue”.
He said he is using this consultation budget to be “upfront with Londoners”.
Mr Khan, said: “The last thing I want to do is increase council tax, but against the backdrop of the Government’s refusal to provide enough support for London’s essential public services, I have no viable alternative but to use all the levers at my disposal to provide urgent funding from City Hall, particularly for the police.
“The Government has announced that policing in London is set to get just over half the percentage increase in funding compared to the rest of the country.
“How can this be right when the Met has had to undertake a huge amount of national policing activities over recent months without any additional funding from the Government?
“This is putting an enormous strain on an already stretched police service. That’s why I’m having to step in with additional funding from City Hall to ensure the police in London can bear down on violent crime, continue to reform and make our city safer.”
The Home Office commissioned an independent panel to review funding for the MPS’s national policing responsibilities (the NICC grant), which reported in 2015/16 that the the force receives a shortfall of £159 million.
The Commissioner of the MPS has since assessed that this shortfall has grown to £240 million. This reflects the impact of inflation since the Home Office review was undertaken in 2015/16, said Mr Khan.