Cutting crime and building stronger communities

Today’s settlement increases spending on crime, justice and communities by £3.5 billion by 2007-08 compared with 2004-05 – supporting the Home Office, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Attorney General’s Departments in continuing to drive down crime, deliver justice and support stronger local communities.

The Home Office’s budget will rise by more than £2.1 billion by 2007-08, equivalent to annual average real terms growth of 2.7 per cent, building on record increases in the 2000 and 2002 Spending Review periods. The Home Office will also realise annual efficiency savings of almost £2 billion by 2007-08.

Historic levels of investment, matched by reform, have delivered real results: overall crime has already fallen by 25 per cent since 1997, with falls in domestic burglary of 40 per cent and in vehicle crime of 34 per cent. This settlement will underpin a further reduction in crime of 15 per cent by 2007-08.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng, said:

“This shows our continuing commitment to making our communities feel safer and more secure, and achieving further steep reductions in crime, unfounded asylum claims and illegal immigration. We are determined to provide the necessary resources to achieve these objectives.”

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said:

“We have already shown it is possible to achieve major reductions in crime, to tackle asylum abuse and to give communities the confidence and tools to deal with anti-social behaviour. With this settlement we will go further to tackle the causes of crime; to help prevent crime and improve police performance; and increase the proportion of officer time spent on the front-line. We will invest further in border controls to continue bearing down on unfounded asylum applications and illegal immigration; the creation of modernised correctional services will continue to tackle the causes of re-offending; and we will give greater support for local communities.”

The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Lord Falconer, said:

“This re-enforces our commitment to bringing offenders to justice and building confidence in the justice system. Sustained investment since 1997 will enable my department to play its part in delivering an efficient and effective criminal, civil, and family court system, which supports the rights and needs of victims, witnesses and defendants.”

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, said:

“This is a good settlement for the Crown Prosecution Service. It gives us the means to create a modern, forward-looking service to work alongside the police to bring more offenders to justice and to support victims.”

Details

The priorities for the Spending Review period are delivering a 15 per cent reduction in crime and building safer, stronger communities, including by:

increasing neighbourhood policing, providing 20,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) by 2008. The Spending Review also takes forward the conclusions of the Bichard Inquiry, with additional investment in police IT;
combating organised crime and terrorism, including through creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency;
improving the efficiency of, and public confidence in, the Criminal Justice System (CJS), through more effective criminal case management;
rolling out the charging scheme under which the CPS take on responsibility for charging from the police – strengthening the prosecution process by deciding the charge and building stronger cases from the start;
creating Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) to bring together the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees with the Court Service – underpinning more efficient and effective criminal, family and civil justice systems;
modernising correctional services through creating the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and reducing re-offending;
addressing the underlying causes of crime in communities through youth intervention programmes and simplified local funding arrangements;
reducing further the harm caused by illegal drugs, including by treating 200,000 problematic drug users a year, and by reducing supply;
continuing to invest in UK border controls to further reduce unfounded asylum claims and illegal immigration;
supporting voluntary and community sector service delivery and increased community participation, including through the Futurebuilders fund; and
improving productivity and releasing resources for the front-line, delivering at least £2.3 billion of annual efficiencies across the Home Office, DCA and CPS by 2007-08: with contributions of at least £1,970 million from the Home Office, £290 million from DCA and £35 million from CPS.

Crime, justice and communities	£ million
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Resource Budget	18,454	19,871	20,867	21,841
Capital Budget	995	1,208	1,299	1,377
Total Departmental Expenditure Limit	19,144	20,647	21,668	22,690

Home Office	£ million
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Resource Budget	12,051	12,690	13,325	13,990
Of which Administration Budget	697	733	672	672
Capital Budget	885	1095	1,226	1,296
Total Departmental Expenditure Limit	12,693	13,052	14,152	14,854
Of which Charity Commission	29	31	31	31

Department for Constitutional Affairs	£ million
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Resource Budget	3,368	3,689	3,797	3,844
Of which Administration Budget	457	477	477	477
Capital Budget	123	138	138	146
Total Departmental Expenditure Limit1	3,411	3,698	3,801	3,851

Law Officers’ Departments	£ million
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Resource Budget	602	635	673	710
Of which Administration Budget	97	105	105	105
Capital Budget	14	15	15	15
Total Departmental Expenditure Limit1	610	643	681	718

Notes for editors

The Home Office, DCA and CPS Public Service Agreements (PSA), including the target to reduce crime by 15%, can be viewed on the HM Treasury website.
Media enquiries to HM Treasury Press Office at 020 7270 5238.

Cutting crime and building stronger communities

Details

Notes for editors

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