The Home Office and the Ministry
of Justice
76. In the 2006 Budget, the then Chancellor of the
Exchequer announced a Home Office spending settlement that would
see that Department's budget remain constant in real terms over
the years 2008-09 to 2010-11. In January 2007, the then Chief
Secretary told us that "I am satisfied, and the Home Secretary
is satisfied, that he can manage his department within the resources
that have been provided for the Home Office".[184]
The then Chief Secretary also stated that "The benefit for
the Home Office of having that early settlement was a really quite
unprecedented degree of certainty about the Department's future
funding for, in that case, a whole five-year period".[185]
77. On 29 March 2007, the Prime Minister announced
his intention to create a Ministry of Justice, moving the National
Offender Management Service and lead responsibility for criminal
law and sentencing policy from the Home Office to the Department
for Constitutional Affairs. In June 2007, we concluded that the
value of early spending settlements on a departmental basis for
the Home Office and the Departmental for Constitutional Affairs
might be diminished as a result of the subsequent decision to
transfer some Home Office functions to a new Ministry of Justice.
We recommended that the Government clarify its funding intentions
with regard to the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice at
an early stage and in advance of the final outcome of the Comprehensive
Spending Review, stating clearly whether the new Departments will
be bound by the combined totals agreed by the Home Office and
the Department for Constitutional Affairs and providing a breakdown
of the expenditure allocation between the Departments.[186]
In response, the Government stated that "the early spending
settlements announced at the 2006 Budget and the 2006 Pre-Budget
Report have not been re-opened. These provide the basis for the
resources the new departments will have available over the spending
review period."[187]
78. In announcing the outcome of the 2007 Comprehensive
Spending Review, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that there
would be a new single budget for intelligence and security, including
£700 million for the next three years for the Home Office
for its work in combating the terrorist threat.[188]
The budget of the Home Office is now expected to rise by 1.1%
a year on average in real terms over the period covered by the
Comprehensive Spending Review.[189]
The Chief Secretary told us that he believed that the settlement
gave the Home Office the resources needed to take forward neighbourhood
policing, but confirmed that final decisions about the use of
additional funds, including final allocations for terrorism and
for neighbourhood policing, were a matter for the Home Office.[190]
79. The budget of the Ministry of Justice is planned
to fall by 1.7% a year in real terms on average over the period
covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review.[191]
In July 2006, the then Home Secretary announced plans to expand
prison capacity by 8,000 places by 2012.[192]
In announcing the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer said:
Overall, I am allocating additional resources
to the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice that will now rise
to £20 billion by 2010, as we … build 9,500 extra prison
places …[193]
In oral evidence, the Chief Secretary confirmed that
only 8,500 additional prison places were funded within the Comprehensive
Spending Review settlement. An allocation had been made for the
further 1,000 prison places, but the timing of those places was
dependent upon the outcome of the review of the prison estate
being conduct by Lord Carter.[194]
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