Category: Police

Source: Mayor of London

• Mayor’s landmark £1.159 billion investment will protect neighbourhood policing, save 935 neighbourhood police officer posts and significantly reduce planned cuts to specialist police teams – including forensic teams and the dog support unit
• Mayor will work closely with the Met police to push for the extra national funding London needs to boost officer numbers, continue to reform and fight crime

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a record £1.16bn investment in policing from City Hall. This will help to save 935 neighbourhood police officer roles that were previously set to be lost and significantly reduce the level of cuts the Met were planning. There is still £32 million for the Met to allocate of additional funding.

The previous government chronically underfunded the Met, making cuts to policing in London that in real terms were equivalent to more than £1.1billion. Allowing for inflation in 2024, core government funding will have fallen by nearly a third in real terms. This has left the Met in a very difficult financial position. The overwhelming majority of the Met’s funding comes from central government, but the Mayor is pulling every lever at his disposal to support policing in London. 

Due to the previous Governments cuts, the Met will still need to reduce its overall workforce and make efficiency savings, but the funding from the Mayor and his prioritisation of neighbourhood policing will mean that the level of neighbourhood policing in communities across London will not be reduced. This will ensure officers are visible in our high streets and working proactively with communities on the issues that matter most to them. 

The Mayor has more the doubled City Hall funding to the Met since he became Mayor, prioritising investment in local policing throughout his time in office, making difficult decisions on council tax and business rates to mitigate the impact of austerity on frontline policing. Neighbourhood policing remains the bedrock of community confidence, trust and safety in London and the Mayor has been clear that the fresh funding from City Hall will be used to fund police officers, key police staff and the equipment they need to carry out their roles.

In line with the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan, the latest budget also ensures:

1. No cuts to emergency response teams, which the public rely on at times of crisis;
2. Continued investment in the resources and equipment frontline officers need;
3. Continued investment in the teams working to provide specialist support for victims so that the Met can continue to improve outcomes for victims of rape, serious sexual offences and child abuse and exploitation;
4. Continued action to improve Met culture, with ongoing support for the Met’s Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Directorate which will deliver more leadership training, improved vetting processes, and changes to how the Met deals with misconduct and complaints to drive the higher standards;
5. An extra £32 million to be allocated. 

Since January’s publication of the draft budget an extra £83million has been added – £10million from City Hall and £73million from central government – for policing in the Mayor’s final budget brings the total mayoral investment in the Met to an historic £1.159 billion for the next year. Overall, there is an additional £320m funding for the Met compared to the current year’s budget, an unprecedented increase following close working between the Mayor and the new government. 

This means that cuts to specialist teams will be significantly reduced compared to what the Met had been previously thought and was planning for. This includes significantly limiting the reductions to the Met’s Dog Support Unit, forensic teams and Mounted Branch. But given the scale of the previous government’s cuts, and with the reserves that have previously mitigated them having been used up, the Met is still having to make some tough choices to protect frontline policing. This includes moving Royal Parks demand into local neighbourhood ward policing roles. 

However, the tough choices the Met has outlined are subject to change as there is still £32m from the funding set out that can be used to mitigate the proposed service reductions. In addition, any future funding from the Government in the upcoming Spending Review would mean the Met could look again at its plans.  

The Mayor is determined to continue being both tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. This approach – supporting the police at the same time as funding programmes that focus on crime prevention – is working.  It has contributed to the number of homicides, young people being injured with knives, gun crime with lethal barrel weapons and burglary all falling since Sadiq was first elected in 2016. The number of teenage homicides in London last year was also at its lowest level since 2012 with the number of under 25’s killed the lowest since 2003. But there is still much more to do and the Mayor will continue to do everything he can.    

While Sadiq has welcomed additional government funding announcements for the police in 2024 and 2025, it is clear that it will take further funding to undo more than a decade of cuts by the previous government. That’s why the upcoming multi-year Spending Review will be a key focus for the Mayor and the Met. The Mayor will continue to stand up for London and make the case for the investment the Met needs. 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The previous government chronically underfunded the Met, making cuts to policing in London that were in real terms equivalent to more than £1.1 billion. This has left the Met in an extremely difficult financial situation. As Mayor, I’m committed to doing everything in my power to support the police. That’s why I’m announcing a record £1.16bn annual investment in the police from City Hall. This historic increase will protect neighbourhood policing in our communities and significantly reduce the level of cuts the Met had been planning.    

“It will also mean the Met can continue to reform and build on the crime reductions we have achieved in the capital, with violence, knife crime involving young people and burglary all down.

“However, tough decisions have been made to protect neighbourhood policing and I’m under no illusions about the challenges ahead. As Mayor, I will continue to work with the new government and the Met – ahead of the forthcoming spending review – to ensure the Met gets the sustainable funding it needs to help us to build a safer London for everyone.”