New Home Secretary Sajid Javid is in denial over impact of Tory cuts to the Police - Labour

Like his predecessor, Sajid Javid has denied that cuts to policing have contributed to a rise in violent crime.

SJ:                           Well, there’s about 15 per cent fewer police officers, but that’s also – the point you’re trying to make there, and that was made earlier in your earlier interview, it doesn’t hold up against the fact – if you go back, go back a decade, serious violent crime was a lot, lot higher than it is today, but so were the police numbers. So for anyone to suggest that this is caused by police numbers, it is not backed up by the facts.

AM:                        Nevertheless, there are fewer police on the streets and that must have something – in a commonsense way that must have something to do with it. I’m not an expert, nor are you.

SJ:                           But the evidence doesn’t suggest that. 

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• But only last week the Met Commissioner said such a view would be “naive”[i]. While internal Home Office analysis said cuts to the police have “likely contributed” to a rise in serious violent crime.[ii]

• Since 2010, more than 21,000 officers, 6,800 PCSOs, and 17,000 civilian police staff have been lost as a result of these cuts to funding.

Listening to the police

• The Home Secretary’s own brother, Bas Javid, Chief Superintendent of West Midland's Police, has previously warned of "the very thin blue line" and said that all forces "face major budget cuts."[xiv]

• Sajid Javid claims the Tories listen to the professionals.

AM:                        All of those figures I agree with that but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the violent offences on the streets. Cressida Dick, the current head of the Met says we’re stretched, we are stretched, we are stretched. She’s not kind of crying wolf is she?

SJ:                           And that’s why we’re listening to Cressida Dick. She’s doing a good job and that’s why you need to listen to the professionals

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• But Cressida Dick said she was sure cuts to police had impacted crime levels.

“I would be naive to say that the reduction in police finances over the last few years, not just in London but beyond, hasn’t had an impact. I’m sure it’s had an impact.”

Cressida Dick, Times ex LBC, 18 May 2018, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/met-chief-cressida-dick-says-budget-cuts-have-affected-crime-levels-kbtnccfk6?CMP=Sprkr-_-Editorial-_-thetimes-_-Unspecified-_-TWITTER

• And a string of senior figures in policing have explicitly stated they do not have enough resources.

“We do not have the resources to keep residents safe. My officers cannot cope with the demand and no-one seems to be listening. The position is a scandal. At some point officials have got to sit up and take notice before something happens.”

Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Jon Boucher, Mail Online, 25 September 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4916132/Police-chief-hits-spending-cuts.html 

"I have no doubts that the cuts have made it much more difficult for us to deliver on our mission, which is to keep people safe from harm and feeling safe, especially the most vulnerable.”

Chief Constable of Lancashire, Steve Finnigan, Lancashire Tele, 17 June 2017, http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/15353580.Lancashire__39_s_top_cop_have_warned___39_cracks_are_now_appearing__39__in_the_service_because_of_tough_government_cuts/ 

“Last year we saw the prison service snap under pressure with riots in Birmingham Prison. We cannot afford this to happen to policing but the strain is showing from recent weeks and we’d have real challenges in dealing with something like the 2011 riots again.”

NPCC Lead for Finance, Chief Constable Dave Thompson, 23 June 2017, https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/national-police-chiefs-council-lead-for-finance-chief-constable-dave-thompson 

“So have I got sufficient resources to fight gun crime? No, I haven’t”

Chief Constable of Merseyside Andy Cooke, Liverpool Echo ,20 June 2017, http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/merseyside-police-chief-warns-budget-13209393  

“I don’t think we can survive any more cuts. We know we are still facing them until 2020/21 because we are not going to have any real increases in income.”

Chief Constable of Durham, Mike Barton, Durham Chronicle, 16 October 2017, https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/it-shocked-out-habits-durham-13769399

• The National Police Chiefs’ Council said this year’s funding settlement “does not fully meet the level of investment identified as necessary”.[xii]

• And a leaked document from Chief Constables and PCCs has warned that forces have “increasing difficulty in sustaining local policing” and “the degradation of this capability is accelerating”.[xiii]

Funding

• Sajid Javid has repeated false claims about £450m extra funding from Government.

AM:                        You cut a thousand police last year.

SJ:                           We provide the funding and so local police then make decisions how best to use that funding, but we’re increasing police funding by some £450 million in the current year and the settlement for the Met Police for example, which by the way has more police per head than any other police force in the country –

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• But despite announcing funding was set to ‘increase by £450m in 2018’, the size of grants from central government stayed flat in cash-terms, resulting in real-terms reductions in funding of around £100m.[iii]

• Theresa May, the Home Office, and Andrea Leadsom have since been rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for falsely claiming the Government are providing £450m in extra funding to police forces in 2018/19.[iv]

• Direct government funding to police forces fell by £2.3bn (25%) in real-terms between 2010 and 2015.[v]

• Sajid Javid also claims the Tories protected funding since 2015.

“But that said, we recognise there are pressures on police, of course there are, there are all sorts of pressures, that’s why from 2015 we’ve protected police budgets.”

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• But as Home Secretary, Theresa May wrote letter to chief constables the day after the 2015 Budget stating that Government funding would fall in real-terms.[vi]

• In fact the Tories imposed over £400m in real-terms reductions in central government funding between 2015 and 2017.[vii]

Serious violence

• Sajid Javid said he wanted the Serious Weapons Bill to be brought forward “within weeks”, saying it would make “a big difference”, but so far nothing has been published.

“Well, it’s a Serious Weapons Bill we want to bring forward very quickly, within a few weeks, and if we get cross-party support I think it could become law very quickly.”

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

“And this is just the thing that will make a big difference, with a new Serious Weapons Bill.

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• And £40m in funding announced as part of the new strategy is not new and will be reallocated from other budgets with the department.

Sarah Jones:                                        Can the Minister explain why, when we face a national epidemic of knife crime and serious youth violence affecting more and more children in this country, the Treasury failed to provide one penny of extra resource for the Government’s new serious violence strategy, which will now be funded by £40 million of cuts to an already overstretched Home Office?

Elizabeth Truss:                                 I point out to the hon. Lady that real-terms spending in the Home Office is going up. We are funding the Home Office, but the important thing is what we do with that money, and that is why the Home Secretary has outlined the serious violence strategy to deal with that issue.

Liz Truss, Hansard, 17 April 2018, c. 170, https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-04-17/debates/BD74C413-CE85-45DF-9D27-B66D4681C4D5/Children%E2%80%99SServicesFunding?highlight=funding%20Home%20Office#contribution-1B13C928-533A-47B4-A915-A25D67F3D0C1

• And despite Home Office analysis stating the cuts to police numbers had likely contributed to a rise in violent crime, the 114 page strategy document itself makes no mention of recruitment or workforce levels.[viii]

• The Home Office also admitted that, in preparing a new Serious Violence Strategy, they had neglected to consider the internationally renowned Violence Reduction Unit in Scotland.[ix]

Crime prevention

• Sajid Javid highlights the importance of early intervention in tackling violence.

SJ:                          But I agree with your main point that we have seen a rise in the last few years of serious violent crime. I think people often put forward one single cause, there isn’t one single cause, it is a complex issue so it will require action on many fronts. That means dealing with the root causes. Of course it means dealing with having early intervention, and that’s something the Home Secretary will talk to tomorrow when she unveils the government’s new serious violence strategy.

Sajid Javid, Marr, 8 April 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08041803.pdf

• But central government funding for youth offending teams has been halved since 2010, from £145m in 2010/11 to £72m in 2017/18.[x]

• And crime prevention spending by local authorities has been cut in half since 2009/10, falling from £361m to £172m.[xi]

[i] Cressida Dick, Times ex LBC, 18 May 2018, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/met-chief-cressida-dick-says-budget-cuts-have-affected-crime-levels-kbtnccfk6?CMP=Sprkr-_-Editorial-_-thetimes-_-Unspecified-_-TWITTER

[ii] Guardian, 8 April 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/08/police-cuts-likely-contributed-to-rise-in-violent-leaked-report-reveals

[iii] Huffington Post, 21 December 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/home-office-funding-to-police-will-be-cut-by-at-least-ps100m-new-figures-reveal_uk_5a3a36e4e4b06d1621b09696

[iv] Guardian, 20 March 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/20/theresa-may-accused-of-misleading-public-over-extra-police-funding

[v] NAO, Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales, June 4th 2015, https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Financial-sustainability-of-police-forces.pdf

[vi] “Total central Government resource funding to policing, including funding for counter-terrorism, will be reduced by 1.3 per cent in real terms over four years.”

Theresa May, letter to Chief Constables, Independent, 26 November 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-cuts-george-osborne-pledge-to-protect-funding-challenged-amid-claims-freeze-could-leave-a6750526.html

[vii] Mirror, 22 November 2017, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-vowed-protect-police-funding-11562486

[viii] Home Office, Serious Violence Strategy, April 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/698009/serious-violence-strategy.pdf

[ix] Victoria Atkins, Hansard, Written Answer 134089, 3 April 2018, https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-03-23/134089/ 

[x] Huffington Post, 8 May 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/cash-for-youth-offending-prevention-delayed-despite-knife-crime-epidemic_uk_5ae87f5ae4b02baed1be456e

[xi] Mirror, 1 May 2018, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/councils-forced-slash-crime-prevention-12460010   

[xii] NPCC press release, 19 December 2017, https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/todays-policing-settlement-is-better-than-last-year-but-does-not-fully-meet-the-level-of-investment-identified-as-necessary

[xiii] Mirror, 29 December 2017, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/police-chiefs-damning-leaked-warning-11766044

[xiv] Telegraph, 20 April 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/30/exclusive-new-home-secretary-sajid-javids-police-chief-brother/