Increased UK funds to respond to terrorist threat
In his Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review , the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that by the end of 2007-08, dedicated spending on counter-terrorism and intelligence will be £2.5 billion a year
This investment will continue in the CSR07 period with dedicated spending on counter-terrorism and intelligence rising to £3 1/2 billion a year by 2010/11 - more than triple the pre 9/11 levels. Building on the sustained increase in the Government's security and intelligence capacity since 9/11, today's CSR announces:
* the budget for the security and intelligence agencies will continue its historic real terms growth since 2001, with real growth over this period of 9.6 per cent a year;
* over £220m additional resources per year by 2010-11 for the Home Office's counter terrorism and security budget - taking real growth in the department's total budget to over 1 % per year over the CSR07 period;
* over £100 million over the three years of the CSR07 period to stop people in the UK being drawn into violent extremism; and
* £61 million a year by 2010-11 for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Council and the BBC World Service to breakdown cultural barriers and misunderstandings, working with present and future opinion makers and communities at home and abroad.
The Government is also announcing:
* a new Single Security and Intelligence Budget which brings together all dedicated counter-terrorism and intelligence funding for the Security and Intelligence Agencies, the police and all parts of government responsible for addressing threat from terrorism. The Ministerial Committee on National Security International Relations and Development, chaired by the Prime Minister, will review the spending plans for this budget on an annual basis; and
* a new counter-terrorism PSA - to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from international terrorism.
The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "I welcome this significant new investment for Security and Counter Terrorism matters. The funding will improve our ability to tackle the immediate threat to the UK, strengthen our security measures to
protect the UK from attack, allow the development of new technology which will enable us to keep ahead of the terrorists, and put in place longer term programmes to counter radicalisation."
