Ardern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 22 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18255. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) to theMinister of Police: Does she stand by her statement in relation to Budget 2014 that “The Police’s core operating spending is being maintained”?Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice)on behalf of theMinister of Police: Yes.Jacinda Ardern: Was the Police Association correct when it stated that “police are receiving around $40 million less to do the job than they spent last year. We are no longer frozen we are going backwards”; if not what is the difference in output expenses between the two Budgets?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The association is correct that there is $40 million which was a result of one-off funding delivered by the Government for certain things. Those matters that it was funded for were from the Justice Sector Fund to enable a restructuring of human resources and finance; the retention of a road policing underspend which helped deliver the lowest road toll in 60 years; the completion of the police’s deployment to the Solomon Islands; and one-off funding for the police to implement the Criminal Procedure Act. The core operating spending is actually being maintained at $1.46 billion and there has been no cut at all in the core operating spending or funding.Richard Prosser: Will she adopt the New Zealand First policy of minimum double staffing of patrol cars at night which will see a significant reduction in assaults on our police or do flat and reducing Budgets prevent this?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well I do not believe that the Minister would be adopting that because that would be an operational matter for police but I can tell the member—and I hope this will assist—that when this has previously been looked at under a previous Minister it was rejected by the police for very sound reasons. It would have meant in fact that there would be a lot of police unable to service areas because of shift requirements holiday requirements and others.Jacinda Ardern: Was the extra funding from the Justice Sector Fund that the Minister referred to which is to pay for basic human resources proof that she has significantly underfunded the police in 2013 and has done so again?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am sorry but the member has misheard. I said that the funding from the Justice Sector Fund was to enable a restructure of human resources and finance. That is not actually basic human resources work.Jami-Lee Ross: What additional resources has this Government provided to police to fight crime and keep our communities safer?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: This Government has funded police to recruit an additional 600 police officers and we have rolled outsmartphones and tablets to all front-line officers. This new technology has freed police up from paperwork and got them out on to the street delivering the equivalent of 354 additional officers—Hon Member: How many?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: —354 additional officers. We have also implemented a new policing model which is focused on preventing crime rather than simply reacting to it and the results speak for themselves. Over the last 4 years crime has fallen by over 20 percent and the recorded crime rate is the lowest that it has been in a generation. Under the previous Government crime was increasing.Jacinda Ardern: Does she believe that responding to crime quickly good resolution rates and crime prevention have a role to play in keeping crime down; if so how does Budget 2014 support those initiatives?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well clearly they do.Richard Prosser: Can she confirm that the police have cut back on the amount of live ammunition allocated to each police officer’s annual firearms training to no more than 30 rounds per officer per year because of cost cutting due to flat Budgets and does she believe this level will provide police with an adequate degree of competency in the use of firearms?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I really would not know about that.Jacinda Ardern: In light of her previous answer can she confirm that this Budget includes a $3.5 million cut to general crime prevention a $7 million cut to investigations a $7 million cut to primary response and a $10 million cut to road policing and is she seriously telling the public that it can expect the same level of service from the police with cuts like that?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: As I have already said to the member this Government is about results. The police have shown that by using technology and by having a Minister who backs the police and does not consistently deride them—as that member would should she ever have the opportunity—the police can in fact produce results which means that the crime rate itself is now down to the lowest it has been since 1978 before that member was even born.Jacinda Ardern: In the wake of such significant cuts to the police budget and the risk of increasing operational failures that will affect the public is she content that in contrast to that the Diplomatic Protection Squad’s funding has increased by 63 percent since she took office?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am sure the member is aware that the way in which the police allocate their funding is an operational decision for the Commissioner of Police and is not something undertaken by the Minister. That member shakes her head but unfortunately I am right and she is not.