Simon Hughes wins government promise for fairer funding for councils and police

12.01.00am GMT Fri 6th Feb 2009

Simon Hughes, the North Southwark and Bermondsey MP, has won two promises from ministers that the government will change to a fairer system for working out taxpayers contributions to police and local council budgets.

In this week's Commons debate on 2009-10 funding plans for local councils, Simon challenged ministers to use a fair system for working out local populations so that numbers are up to date and take account of migrant and transitory residents, many of whom don't show up on official lists like voting registers.

Southwark, like other London boroughs, has a huge turnover of population every year. Liberal Democrat led Southwark Council, like other councils, has been pressing for years for a better and fairer system for calculating local numbers to work out local needs.

This week local government minister John Healey has now promised that calculations for the next three year allocation of funds will use a new system of working out population numbers.

Earlier on the same day, in the debate on 2009-10 English police funding, Home Office minister Vernon Coaker promised Mr Hughes that the Home Office would also use a new system for working out populations and their policing needs.

Responding to these two categoric and welcome promises from ministers, Simon Hughes said: "These government promises mean good news for Southwark - even if only from 2011 onwards. Everybody knows that the present way government work out how much to give each council and police force ignores thousands of people who the council and police are meant to serve.

"As a result of the commitments I received this week, from 2011 at the latest Southwark Council and the Metropolitan Police should expect a bigger slice of the national financial cake. This also should help the police and our council give us more and better services.

"In my twenty five years as a Member of Parliament this is the first time I have won two immediate commitments from two different government ministers on the same day. I hope time will show that Wednesday 4 February was a good day at the office!"