Record £1.16 billion for the Met Police

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced that a record £1.16 billion investment will go towards the Metropolitan Police (Met), which will help to save 935 neighbourhood police officer roles that were previously set to be lost under arranged cuts.

There is still £32 million of unallocated funding for the Met.

The met has been massively underfunded by the previous government, which in real terms equated to more than £1.1. billion, leaving the Met to struggle. Although the overwhelming majority of Met’s funding comes from central government, the Mayor is working hard to use all of his powers to support London policing.

Previous government cuts will mean that the Met will still need to rescue its overall workforce and make efficiency savings, although mayoral funding, which has more than doubled since Sadiq Khan took up his post as mayor, has ensured that the level of neighbourhood policing in communities across London will not be reduced.

The latest funding, in like with the mayor’s Police and Crime Plan, ensures that there will be no cuts to emergency response teams, continued investment in the resources and equipment that frontline officers need, as well as an extra £32 million to be allocated. Further investment will go towards teams providing specialist support and working with victims of rape, serious sexual offences, and child abuse and exploitation. 

Since January’s publication of the draft budget an extra £83 million has been added — £10 million from City Hall and £73 million from central government — for policing, with the mayor’s final budget bringing the total mayoral investment to the Met to a history £1.159 billion for the next year. There is an overall additional £320 million funding for the Met compared to the current year’s budget, following close work between the mayor and the government.

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 £1.16 billion annual investment in our police from City Hall. This historic increase will protect neighbourhood policing in our communities and significantly reduce the level of cuts the Met has 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 safe London for everyone.”