Mayor of London proposes 50p week council tax increase to fight violent crime T...
Mayor of London proposes 50p week council tax increase to fight violent crime
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that he will give a £6.8m boost to the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) as part of his expanded public-health approach to tackling all forms of violence in the capital.
Sadiq will also be using the full range of his powers to invest in the Metropolitan Police next year after the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, failed to give the force the funding he acknowledged it needs to keep Londoners safe.
In order to provide the Metropolitan Police with the necessary resources, the Mayor is proposing to increase his share of council tax by an average of 50p a week - the maximum amount allowed by the Government. In total, the Mayor proposes to commit an additional £95m next year to policing and tackling crime. This money will be raised from council tax and business rates.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My first responsibility is to keep Londoners safe. Over 70 per cent of the Met’s funding is controlled by the Government and Ministers have repeatedly refused to reverse the cuts they have made since 2010. As a result the Met has already had to make cuts of some £850m and I am furious that this is set to continue.
“I am concerned that the Government is continuing to shift the burden of police funding from Government grant to Council Tax – which is deeply regressive and hits the poorest the hardest.
“However, the brutal reality of the rise in violent crime and Government cuts means that I have little choice but to increase the policing element of the council tax by the maximum amount allowed by Ministers.
“Therefore, I am proposing to increase the Band D council tax precept by 50 pence a week – as allowed and encouraged by the Home Secretary. In total, I propose to commit an additional £95m next year to policing and tackling crime – more than twice as much as provided by the Government.
“Despite this, the reality of Government cuts means that the Met still has to make cuts of £263m by 2022-23. If these cuts were delivered through officer reductions, this is estimated to reduce the number of police officers from 31,000 to 28,215, a 15- year low. At a time when violent crime is rising across the country, this is a total abdication of the Government’s responsibility to public safety.”
Picture: London City Hall, By pixabay.com
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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that he will give a £6.8m boost to the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) as part of his expanded public-health approach to tackling all forms of violence in the capital.
Sadiq will also be using the full range of his powers to invest in the Metropolitan Police next year after the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, failed to give the force the funding he acknowledged it needs to keep Londoners safe.
In order to provide the Metropolitan Police with the necessary resources, the Mayor is proposing to increase his share of council tax by an average of 50p a week - the maximum amount allowed by the Government. In total, the Mayor proposes to commit an additional £95m next year to policing and tackling crime. This money will be raised from council tax and business rates.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My first responsibility is to keep Londoners safe. Over 70 per cent of the Met’s funding is controlled by the Government and Ministers have repeatedly refused to reverse the cuts they have made since 2010. As a result the Met has already had to make cuts of some £850m and I am furious that this is set to continue.
“I am concerned that the Government is continuing to shift the burden of police funding from Government grant to Council Tax – which is deeply regressive and hits the poorest the hardest.
“However, the brutal reality of the rise in violent crime and Government cuts means that I have little choice but to increase the policing element of the council tax by the maximum amount allowed by Ministers.
“Therefore, I am proposing to increase the Band D council tax precept by 50 pence a week – as allowed and encouraged by the Home Secretary. In total, I propose to commit an additional £95m next year to policing and tackling crime – more than twice as much as provided by the Government.
“Despite this, the reality of Government cuts means that the Met still has to make cuts of £263m by 2022-23. If these cuts were delivered through officer reductions, this is estimated to reduce the number of police officers from 31,000 to 28,215, a 15- year low. At a time when violent crime is rising across the country, this is a total abdication of the Government’s responsibility to public safety.”
Picture: London City Hall, By pixabay.com
#london #crime #sadiqkhan
more...