Sir Sadiq Khan has hinted that City Hall may be able to limit the number of Metropolitan Police officers which could be cut from the force as Scotland Yard prepares its budget for the coming year.
The mayor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that “huge progress” had been made since Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley first set out the “consequences on the current trajectory” of funding in the weeks before Christmas.
Sir Mark told City Hall on December 10 that the force will need to cut a total of 2,300 officers and 400 staff next year because of a £450m funding shortfall.
On December 17, the Home Office confirmed that it would be awarding the Met some £255.2m in the National and International Capital City (NICC) grant, an extra £65m compared with the grant awarded last year.
At a London Assembly meeting last week however, the Met’s chief finance officer, Dan Worsley, revealed that the Met had already been assuming it would receive £50m of that additional £65m.
He stressed earlier in the meeting that the Met was facing “tough choices and efficiencies” as it strives to close the remaining budget gap.
Asked by Conservative assembly member Susan Hall about officer numbers, Mr Worsley said that by the end of the current financial year in March, the Met assumes it will have 32,752 officers, in ‘full-time equivalent’ terms.
Looking ahead to the 2025/26 financial year, he confirmed that on current budget assumptions, the Met was still looking at a cut of 2,300 officers, “subject to” final funding arrangements.
Speaking this week, Sir Sadiq told the LDRS: “We need to make sure we support the police. That’s why I was really pleased we’ve got additional money from the Government – an increase of more than 34 per cent.
“I’m still lobbying the Government for more money for next year, but the Met Police Service knows, as do Londoners, since I’ve been mayor, we’ve more than doubled funding to the police. I’m going to carry on supporting the police.”
The mayor did not directly respond when asked if he was hopeful that the officer cuts can be mitigated or reduced to some extent, but he emphasised that Sir Mark’s remarks last year were merely outlining “the consequences on the current trajectory” of funding.
He added: “The good news is there’s been huge progress made since then and over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll be working closely with the Met Police Service, with my team at City Hall, with the Home Office, to make sure we can support the police as much as we can financially, but also work with the police to lobby the Government, in advance of the spending review this year.”