Our funding

The finances of the MPA are complex, partly due to its unique constitutional position within the GLA, and also due to its size, some £3 billion, and the diverse nature of its activities.

The MPA has two distinct budgets for different types of expenditure:

• Revenue – the revenue budget meets all pay and running costs together with the costs of paying off loans.
• Capital – the capital budget meets the cost of land, buildings and equipment with an expected life of more than 12 months and a value in excess of £5,000.

How is the MPA revenue budget funded?

The main sources of funding are:

Specific Grant

The Home Office allocates specific grant. The Home Secretary, within the framework of central government spending plans, decides the overall size of the grant. The majority of grant, currently 95.4%, is allocated by way of the police funding formula.

Special Payment

This funding is for the MPA only and recognises its role in national and capital city functions.

Revenue Support Grant (RSG)

RSG is allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government and, like specific grant, is distributed according to the police funding formula.

Non-Domestic Rates (NDR)

NDR is based on the rateable value of properties other than flats and houses. The rate at which NDR is charged is set by central government and can increase every year, but not by more than the retail price index for September. Income raised from this means is collected by local authorities, and paid into a national pool which Government then shares out among local and police authorities in proportion to their resident population.

For the first time in 2008-09 there was a three-year grant settlement covering 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The settlement covered formula grant for three years, with the latter two years being provisional.

In addition, there are grants allocated for specific purposes, for example, Counter Terrorism and Crime Fighting Fund, amongst others. The Crime Fighting Fund is funding designed to maintain / increase the number of police officers.

Council Tax

In general police authorities are able to raise additional funding through local council tax to meet their budget requirement. It is a little more complicated for the MPA – the MPA is not a precepting authority, this means that it does not set the level of its own council tax. It is the Greater London Assembly that decides the level of the precept for the MPA and the other functional bodies within the GLA Group.

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