City of London Police will pocket a share of £72million over the next four years after funds were earmarked to help prevent crime across the Capital. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that “maintaining recent levels of investment despite significant pressures on the policing budget” were at the forefront of his thinking when he pledged the latest round of finance.
“Keeping Londoners safe is my first priority, and providing boroughs with the funds they need to tackle and prevent crime is a vital part of this,” said Mr Khan. The Mayor explained that the new investment will help to deliver local services, such as support for victims of domestic and sexual violence, knife crime prevention, and rehabilitation of offenders within the community in all 32 London boroughs.
The new tranche of the London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF) will be awarded according to the greatest need across the boroughs, with a new emphasis on ensuring every resident has the access to the services they need to help support them and keep them safe. “A more joined up approach, and targeting money where it is most needed, will help us to support those parts of the Capital which are struggling and provide much needed services to all Londoners, including programmes to tackle serious youth violence and provide support to those who have suffered domestic abuse,” said Mr Khan. “These are critical issues and I will do everything in my power to confront them.”
A portion of the funds will be redirected into a joint pot to support services commissioned across multiple boroughs. Local authorities will be core partners in the development of the new funding pot, which will account for 30% of the LCPF budget from 2018/19 onwards. The deputy mayor for policing and crime, Sophie Linden, said that the approach strikes a balance between maintaining crucial local programmes while supporting collaborative work between different areas and organisations. She added: “Some of the most serious and complex challenges we face in policing our Capital cannot be solved by one borough alone. “By working this way, we can deliver innovative services to Londoners in every corner of the Capital and really make a difference to crime levels in our city.”
