Metropolitan Police boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has welcomed George Osborne's announcement he will not cut police budgets any further in his next budget.
PREVIOUSLY: Could you be arrested by a volunteer? Home Office and Met plans may mean the end for Sutton's PCSOs
Two weeks after the Paris terrorist attacks, the Chancellor said in his autumn statement that "there will be real-terms protection for police funding. The police protect us and we are going to protect the police."
London's police force had been facing an £800m budget cut on top of £600m imposed by the previous coalition government. But the capital's top cop warned there was still room to be "more efficient".
Sir Bernard said: "We welcome that clear statement as we continue discussions with the Home Office next year over a new funding formula to allocate resources to different police forces and to recognize the costs of policing a capital city.
"The Met is highly effective at protecting the public, but we can still be more efficient and reduce our costs. We have a big task to modernise our technology to support digital transformation. So there will still be some tough choices to come."
MORE AUTUMN STATEMENT REACTION:
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