Policing pledge will leave forces short - Louise Haigh
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Boris Johnson’s flagship police recruitment pledge will leave more
than half of forces below 2010 officer levels and entrench existing
inequalities between Tory heartlands and our major towns and
cities, Labour’s analysis shows. The government has confirmed today
that officer numbers will be allocated through the outdated funding
formula, which the current Policing Minister has called “manifestly
unfair” and subject...Request free
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Boris Johnson’s flagship police recruitment pledge will leave more than half of forces below 2010 officer levels and entrench existing inequalities between Tory heartlands and our major towns and cities, Labour’s analysis shows. The government has confirmed today that officer numbers will be allocated through the outdated funding formula, which the current Policing Minister has called “manifestly unfair” and subject to “constant complaints and nobody really had the cajones to get a grip on it”. Surrey, which has only had a net reduction of eight officers since 2010, will be able to recruit as many as 260 officers, while major metropolitan areas dealing with surging violence and knife crime – such as the West Midlands, Northumbria and Merseyside – will still be far short of the officer levels they had in 2010. Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Policing Minister, said: “Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with misleading people, but this again shows he can’t be trusted to be honest and that his claims fall apart under scrutiny. “The truth is the brutal cuts he and his colleagues voted for will not be reversed and our communities will continue to be less safe as a result. “Labour will end austerity and properly invest in the police, youth services, our NHS and other public services to rebuild our communities.” Notes: · Dozens of forces will still be far short of 2010 levels, when the Tories came to power, even after the recruitment pledge has concluded based on the use of the funding formula to allocate officer numbers. Home Office announces first wave of 20,000 recruitment. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift · Analysis carried out by Labour shows that even if all 20,000 officers were allocated over half of police forces (22 out of 43) would still have a net loss of officers compared to 2010-11. On the more likely scenario that around 13,000 officers will be allocated territorially, sixty percent of forces would still be down on 2010-11, with large urban forces like Manchester, Merseyside and the West Midlands losing out substantially.
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