Met given more money for capital city policing

The Metropolitan Police will get an extra £65m next year to cover the cost of policing the capital, a Home Office minister said on Tuesday.

The increase in a special grant to compensate the Met and City of London police for the additional security and other costs of policing London was confirmed by policing minister Diana Johnson.

As part of the 2025-26 police funding settlement, they will receive £255.2m through the National and International Capital City grant, an increase of £65m compared to the 2024-25 settlement.

The force has said while it is "grateful" for the boost to the grant, the gap in overall funding remains.

'Increased demands'

The minister said the 34% cash increase was in part because of what she described as "a substantial increase in protest activity in London in recent years".

Ms Johnson said the grant had not been increased in line with inflation for at least five years.

"We recognise that the Metropolitan Police Service faces increased demands on resources from policing the capital city," the minister said in a written statement to Parliament.

In response the Met has said it hoped next year's government spending review would "help fix our long-term funding issues and put us on a sustainable footing for the future".

A spokesperson added: "This will be hard for our dedicated officers and staff, but equally will have implications for policing London that we need to work through and communicate when the budget is finalised in the New Year.

"We must now work with the Mayor of London on how best to reduce our services so we live within our means, while doing our best to keep the capital safe."

Risk of closure

Last month the Met Police commissioner said the force faced "eye-watering choices" if it did not receive more money from the government in the upcoming spending review.

Sir Mark Rowley told the London Assembly that all services were "on the table" when considering where savings might have to be made, adding that he could not guarantee that more police stations would not have to close.

He has also warned of 2,300 officers and 400 staff being cut next year because of a £450m funding shortfall.

He told assembly members that financial pressures were "a cumulative impact of a decade or more" rather than this year's budget.

Sir Mark said the projections were based on planning assumptions that will change until the final settlement is decided by City Hall early next year.

A Home Office spokesperson said the Budget had delivered an increase in funding for the Met, with the force receiving a total of up to £3.5bn in 2024-25.