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Labour's Wes Streeting says Londoners "are sick" of Tory MPs "crying crocodile tears" in local newspapers about police station closures and then "supporting the cuts that make them necessary".

Today's settlement is "the worst of all worlds", he says.

He argues people will pay more in taxes but there will be less support from central government and the police will not get the resources they need.

The minister accuses the MP of delivering "an artificial rant".

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Conservative Vicky Ford says the precept increase will provide police in Essex with an extra £8.8m.

She describes this as "a helpful start" but urges the government to consider "fairer funding models" so that "efficient police forces" like Essex are not put at a disadvantage.

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Taking a break from debating the size of the House, peers turn to questions.

Conservative Lord Naseby has the first question today. He wants to know if the government will review its policy on capping energy prices, following measures taken by the energy industry to change tariffs and increase competition.

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Minister Lord Henley says it is the government's intention to legislate, and the draft bill is currently under scrutiny.

Lord Naseby says "there may not be perfect competition, but there is a lot of competition".

Lord Henley says that the government agrees with Ofgem that the energy market is not working for all consumers.

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Conservative Lucy Frazer says her local force has managed to employ 50 new recruits at the same time as making efficiencies.

Nick Hurd welcomes this news and attacks the opposition for "not accepting the maths".

"An increase of £450m is in fact an increase," he says.

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Chair of the Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper says the flat cash to local police forces will mean a real cut given the level of inflation.

She also seeks confirmation that money from central government will be cut in real terms.

Despite welcoming the extra money for counter terror she expresses concern that there will still be fewer officers "cutting off the intelligence that is crucial to attacks".

"Surely he [the minister] must know in his heart of hearts, this is not enough funding."

Mr Hurd replies that the grant from "the centre is not going to fall".

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Police funding is devolved in Scotland and the SNP's Gavin Newlands says that the Scottish government has increased the police authority's government allocated budget in real terms.

He notes that in Scotland recorded crime is at a 42 year low and public confidence in the police is increasing.

He urges the government to reimburse the money paid by the Scottish police in VAT.

In last month's Budget, the government announced that VAT for the police In Scotland would be scrapped.

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Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott replies that the minister can "spin a convincing story" but says violent crime has risen by 18% and murder rates by 26%.

She argues that austerity is "as damaging to the police as to other public services" and adds "you cannot keep people safe on the cheap".

She expresses doubts that today's settlement will enable police to "meet future challenges" and asks for a commitment that there will be "no more cuts in police numbers".

Home Office Minister Nick Hurd notes that the shadow home secretary previously called for the police to be dismantled.

On police numbers he says the government will ensure the police "have the resources they need".

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Home Office Minister Nick Hurd is making a statement on policing.

He says that in the next financial year police will receive additional funding of up to £450m.

Part of this increase will come from new freedom for councils to raise tax by £12 per household per year. This he says will amount to £270m.

He adds that extra funding will be provided for counter terrorism (£50m) and national priorities such as digital technologies (£130m).

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Conservative Lord Strathclyde says he was present for the last time a report suggested a Lords reduction, it was by far higher numbers than is being suggested today.

He says he disagrees that the problem is overcrowding, daily attendance is 480. There have only been 3 divisions in the entire history where vote attendance has been over 600, he adds.

Under the proposals, he says, a Labour Peer starting in the mid-80s would be due to leave the House just as the New Labour government came to power in 1997.

He says that removing the ability of the Prime Minister to threaten increasing the size of the House would "lead to a more assertive House", something he fears.

He encourages "responsibility" and "restraint" to get the size of the House down quickly.

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"At the other end of the corridor, they haven't a clue what we're about," Lord Forsyth of Drumlean tells the Lords, in referring to the Commons.

He says that during her latter, more frail years, Baroness Thatcher or her office would ring him and ask him to help her in the Chamber during the afternoon.

He says he once asked her why she still attended.

"Whereupon she prodded me in the chest, and she said 'Michael, when we accepted appointment to this place, it became our duty to attend, now how often are you here when I'm not here?'"

Lord Forsyth says he has never forgotten this.

He says people who accept appointments and who do not take their appointments seriously are a problem.

"We are not a rule-based House," he says, and he urges the leader of the Lords to speak to the prime minister and explain the debate that is taking place today.

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The Labour chair of the Local Government Committee, Clive Betts, points out Sajid Javid has announced £250m extra for adult social care budgets - but the shortfall is £250bn, according to the Local Government Association.

Mr Javid says he is "listening carefully" and core spending power will reach £45.6bn by 2020, a real-terms rise.

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Liberal Democrat Lord Steel of Aikwood says he hopes that Lord Newby's fears that new peers could be appointed in the new year will not be realised, as this will "drive a coach and horses" through these new plans.

He says he sees no reason why there can't be an "automatic clear out" at the end of every Parliament of members over 80.

The second objection he has is the "ad hominem objection". He says there is nothing to stop retired members from making broadcast appearances, giving lectures and writing to newspapers.

"All they would do is stop being legislators," he says.

"The argument is, oh, you can't do that because you would lose Nigel Lawson, to which I say, well, so what?" he says, to laughter from the House. "You would also, as of next time around, lose David Steel and that might be a very good thing," he says smiling, to laughter from the chamber.

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Shadow communities and local government secretary Andrew Gwynne says there have been "unprecedented funding cuts since 2010" and local authorities have been "left in the dark" about future funding since the election.

He accuses the government of "exacerbating the rural-urban divide" and looking after Surrey while ignoring Stockton, Salford and Sheffield.

There's no sustainable plan, he claims, and adult social care and children's services will suffer.

Mr Javid responds that all he wants is "spending, spending, spending" without saying where the money would come from.

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Former Lords Speaker Baroness D'Souza says that Lords reform "is an ongoing process".

She says the Lords have learnt that incremental change is likely to be successful, rather than sudden rapid change.

She hopes that by accepting the Burns report, there will be a new consensus and precedent.

"The House needs refreshing from time to time," she says, before adding her fears that the House will remain "oversubscribed for some time to come".

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Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid is making a statement on the Local Government Finance Settlement, which sets out funding for local authorities.

He says councils need "greater control" over how they spend their money, and this will have a "tangible impact on steps councils take to promote efficiency".

He announces details of 10 new pilot areas where councils will retain 75% of business rates, as well as an increase in the rural service delivery fund.

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Lord Kakkar, crossbench chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission, says that of the 67 appointments made under the nomination process, 90% of those took part in the democratic process by speaking in debates or voting in divisions.

He recommends being able to extend leave of absence system under the 15 year term limit to those appointed through the Commission.

He says it's essential that the House does not lose sight of the importance of diversity in the Lords under any new system.

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The former Leader of the Lords, Baroness Stowell of Beeston, says that there is a "real need" for the House of Lords, but in order for the House to be effective, she says "we have to define our purpose".

She endorses the idea that the House of Lords Appointments Commission should make it clear to new peers what is expected of them under the code of conduct.

"We made significant progress in 2014" by introducing permanent retirement, she says.

She says the Lords is yet to introduce a disrepute clause, something "which has to change".