Band 8+: Writing Task 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The table and charts below give information on the police budget for 2017 and 2018 in one area of Britain. The table shows where the money came from and the charts show how it was distributed. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

The table and pie charts illustrate the sources of the police budget and how this money was spent in one British area during 2017 and 2018. Overall, the National Government remained the primary source of funding, and the majority of the expenditure was consistenlty allocated to officer and staff salaries.

Regarding the budget sources, the total amount rose from 304.7m Pound Sterling to 318.6m Pound Sterling. The National Government provided the largest share, increasing slightly from 175.5m Pound Sterling to 177.8m Pound Sterling. Especially, funding from local taxes experienced a significant rise, growing from 91.2m Pound Sterling to 102m Pound Sterling. Other sources, such as grants, stayed roughly the same 38m Pound Sterling in both years.

In terms of spending, in 2017, salaries for staff accounted for three quarters of the total budget, but this figure dropped to nearly 70% in 2018. Conversely, the proportion of money spent on technology increased significantly, rising from 8% to 14%. Finally, the budget for buildings and transport remained unchanged at 17%, a figure that stayed the same for both years.