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Budgets

Whitehall Spending Review Settled: Police Spending Protected Despite Treasury Constraints

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was told to find savings from other parts of her budget to protect spending on the police, as haggling over the multiyear Whitehall spending review finally ended. Despite the Treasury's concerns, Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted that police spending should be protected over the three-year period of the spending review. The police will see a fixed annual increase of 2% per year, the same rate as the Bank of England's inflation target. However, some minor details are still being hammered out.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Whitehall spending review has been settled after months of negotiations between ministers and the Treasury.
  • Police spending will be protected over the three-year period of the spending review, with an annual increase of 2% per year.
  • Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was told to find savings from other parts of her budget to protect spending on the police.
  • Police chiefs, including the Metropolitan Police's Sir Mark Rowley, have lobbied for more cash and are relieved that the final settlement was not worse.
  • Labour's promise of "safer streets" includes an increase in neighbourhood policing and a crackdown on knife crime and violence against women and girls.
  • The Home Office will spend the coming weeks working out how best to use extra investment in the department as well as using existing budgets to "deliver on government priorities."
  • Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister, has settled her housing and local government budget, leaving Cooper with limited options.
  • The Treasury has indicated that not every department should automatically see its budget increase in real terms.

Statistics:

  • 2% annual increase in police spending, aligned with the Bank of England's inflation target.
  • £113 billion extra capital spending allocated for infrastructure over the rest of the parliament.
  • No clear indication of spending on child poverty measures in the coming years.
  • Expectations built around Labour's promise of "safer streets", including an increase in neighbourhood policing and a crackdown on knife crime and violence against women and girls.

Sources:

  • The Guardian
  • BBC News
  • The Telegraph
  • The Times

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