Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab/Co-op) I beg to move,
That this House has considered funding for neighbourhood policing
in the West Midlands. It is a pleasure to serve under your
chairmanship, Sir Edward. I am delighted to have the opportunity to
lead today’s debate. I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member
for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey) for securing this debate,
and for allowing me to open in his stead. I congratulate him on
his...Request free trial
(Birmingham, Edgbaston)
(Lab/Co-op)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered funding for neighbourhood policing
in the West Midlands.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I
am delighted to have the opportunity to lead today’s debate. I
start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham,
Erdington () for securing this debate, and
for allowing me to open in his stead. I congratulate him on his
appointment to the shadow Home Office team; I know he will be a
great champion for the safety and security of our communities in
that brief. He has been doing an outstanding job in raising the
issue of the lack of policing in the west midlands. I also thank
colleagues who have joined us this afternoon to discuss this
timely and important topic. We are holding this debate to discuss
police funding for the west midlands and to argue for our region
to get the fair funding that it needs and deserves.
The west midlands has the fourth highest rate of crime in the
country. This Government have been in power for a long time—11
years, to be exact. When they were re-elected in 2019, it was on
a promise to level up every region in the United Kingdom. Nowhere
needs that more than the west midlands, which has lost out
terribly from policing cuts over the past decade, and where many
of our communities have been blighted by crime.
We all know the Government’s record here, particularly on the
delivery of justice for victims; we have plummeted to record lows
in the last decade. Between 2010, when the last Labour
Administration were in government, and 2020, the percentage of
crimes that ended in a charge or court summons was halved. The
delivery of justice for victims of violent offences is even
worse. Someone who has been robbed is half as likely to see the
culprits charged or taken to court—down from 19% to 8.2%. For
violence against the person, charge rates are four times lower
than they were a decade ago. Some 98% of reported rape cases do
not result in a charge. What does that say to women?
That is where we are after a decade in which the Conservatives
have cut 20,000 police officers from our forces. We have seen
central Government grants to the police fall by 30% in real
terms, and forces are increasingly relying on income raised
through council tax, known as the police precept. Police have
also been forced to make more use of reserve funding—money set
aside for unforeseen spending—and have had to sell off capital
assets, including police stations, to help to raise funds.
Between 400 and 600 police stations were closed between 2010 and
2018 by the Conservatives, in addition to the loss of 20,000
officers.
We on this side of the House know that cuts have consequences.
That kind of capacity, experience and expertise cannot be
replaced overnight. The Prime Minister pledged to recruit an
extra 20,000 officers by 2022 and, since then, only 11,000 extra
officers have been recruited. Truly, only the Tories could cut
20,000 police officers, watch crime rates soar, recruit 11,000
officers, pat themselves on the back and say, “Job well
done.”
In the west midlands, we have had 2,221 officers cut and £175
million slashed from our budgets since 2010. At the same time,
there have been huge cuts to the services that are vital to
preventing crime in the first place, such as youth clubs, mental
health services, local council funding and probation services.
The police are also having to respond to complex and serious
crimes, ranging from human trafficking to sexual crimes against
children, which are becoming increasingly common. Despite that,
the Government’s much-trumpeted uplift programme promises to
restore only 1,200 officers to our region, leaving us 1,000 short
of where we were. Is that levelling up? No, it is not—the people
of the west midlands would say so too.
The situation has been absolutely frightening for some of our
constituents. In one case that I had recently, two masked men
broke into the home of an elderly lady in my area and tried to
rob her. A neighbour’s light came on, they were disturbed, and
they ran off, but I cannot imagine just how petrified she was.
The police officer who responded did his absolute best; he gave
her advice on changing her locks, and so on, but when asked how
she could possibly feel safe and secure—how she could be sure
that they would not come back—he could only say to her that she
could move in with her relatives. That is deeply
unacceptable.
I remember working on the case of another lady who was pulling
into her driveway when a man ran over and stole her bag out of
her passenger seat. She called the police and gave them a
description of the man and his getaway car, but without CCTV,
they said there was not much more that they could do. They did
not have the resources to prioritise it and the case was NFA’d—no
further action was taken. We hear this all the time.
I cited some of the most appalling national statistics on charge
rates earlier. Is it not incredible that in the UK, the CCTV
capital of Europe, our charge rates are so appallingly low? Many
of our constituents see the rise in violent crime in their areas,
and they are scared. Violent crime is rising, with conviction
rates at record lows. Gangs with machetes on the streets are not
uncommon, as is knife crime. Is this the new norm? The
Conservatives have become the party of crime and disorder. To
keep our communities safe and restore confidence, we need to
bring back neighbourhood policing. Constituents say to me all the
time that they barely see officers on their streets and that they
do not know their officers’ names. They do not know whom to call
and are instead directed to online reporting.
So stretched have services been that the police are constantly
reacting, making trade-offs on what to prioritise, and doing less
and less proactive work. They are not able to build relationships
or undertake vital preventive work and early interventions with
young people, which we know are so effective. Neighbourhood
policing is what many police officers proudly tell me they want
to be doing more of—being a trusted presence within the
community, working closely with people and using a range of
problem-solving skills to address community issues, which we know
have worked in the last decades. It is about providing a visible
deterrent to people who think they can commit crime and get away
with it.
Under the Conservatives, criminals have never had it so good,
which is why I back the plan for the new West Midlands police and
crime commissioner, , to put boots back on the
ground with 450 extra neighbourhood police officers, guaranteeing
that officers are based in all our local areas and ensuring that
victims of crime are always a top priority and can access timely
advice, care and support. Clearly, the funding situation is not
easy for West Midlands police, but it is right to direct
investment into more officers on the ground, rather than
maintaining empty stations. Bricks and mortar, without people, do
not stop crimes, but this is a situation of the Government’s own
making.
Let us be clear that officers are much needed. There are rising
levels of theft and robbery, and devastating cuts to preventive
and mental health services have left the police to pick up more
and more of the pieces, with less time to spend fighting crime.
The College of Policing estimates that 2% to 20% of incidents
reported to the police are linked to mental health issues. Under
this Government, neighbourhood policing numbers in our region
have been decimated, dropping from 1,821 to 760 between 2010 and
2018. Police community support officer numbers also fell, from
811 in 2010 to 464 in 2021.
Given the expectation that a new policing funding settlement will
come out on Thursday, we have called today’s debate to make a
last-ditch plea to Ministers to give our region the funding it
needs. I work closely with my local police and have nothing but
admiration for their selfless service, bravery and
professionalism, but they are being let down. The west midlands
is not getting a fair share. It is patently unfair that forces
with lower crime rates, such as nearby Warwickshire, have
increased their police numbers over the past decade, whereas our
region could still be left 1,000 officers short under the
Government’s uplift plans. With the new funding settlement on
Thursday, my question to the Minister is very simple: will he
give West Midlands police the fair funding that they need? Will
he hear the pleas of our constituents who feel let down by the
Government and give our forces a fighting chance?
16:38:00
(Birmingham, Perry Barr)
(Lab)
I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston
() for making such an
eloquent speech and raising all those figures. I also commend my
hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (), who secured the debate. Owing
to his position as a shadow Minister, he is unfortunately not
able to take part.
This is a crucial debate to my constituents and the people of
Birmingham. We have people who live in fear. In my constituency,
gangs maraud around with knives, baseball bats, sticks, machetes
and, in some instances, guns. The police are called, but they are
not able to attend because they need sufficient numbers for such
an event, which I understand.
There is a business in my constituency. A group of young people
got together and opened a car wash. They do not employ labour
from abroad; they wanted to do it themselves and make a living
for themselves. For some reason, they were set upon by a
gang—probably because they did not want them to open the business
where they had. They made several complaints to the police
themselves. Nobody turned up. A week later, when the father
approached me and spoke to me, they still had not come. I made
enquiries and the police were not able to visit those young
people, who wanted to better their lives and their local
environment.
It is not the fault of the police officers who work in my area.
They work extremely hard—fantastically hard—but they do not have
the numbers. As my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham,
Edgbaston says, the West Midlands PCC is working extremely hard
to increase numbers. It is important to heed the words of the
PCC. If they do not have the officers to do the work, it is
difficult to do the work. That is what the problem is.
I have a fantastic sergeant working in my constituency, Nick
Hill. He came in as a breath of fresh air in my patch. He is
available literally all the time. He comes to community events.
He wants to engage, to the extent that we were able to set up a
police drop-in at a local church on a Tuesday afternoon, so that
people who could not get through to the police on the phone or by
other mechanisms could come and see the police and report things.
That is a fantastic initiative.
We have some local police officers who are doing a fantastic job.
On my own security, Nick has been fantastic. If I tell him where
I am holding surgeries, he tries his best to support me. We all
have to think about our position and our safety, particularly
since the tragic incident of . That is an additional
requirement for the police. More issues are being added to the
list for the police to address.
There are also issues within the policing structure. The Home
Office has said that more officers need to have a degree to work
on the streets.
The Minister for Crime and Policing ()
No, they do not.
Mr Mahmood
Well, that is what I am being told—that police officers need to
have a degree to be able to work. A lot of recruits have been
taken in. I know about four recruits who have come into my
constituency as police officers who have come in through the
degree mechanism, and there are others who have been told they
need to complete degree qualifications in order to move on, which
removes them from the limited number of police we have. There are
some people who want to be on the street, who want to do
policing, who have the qualification, who want to build
connections within the community and deliver those services. What
we want are police officers who understand local communities and
know what is going on.
In another policing debate, I mentioned a PCSO in my area who was
a member of the Labour party, and joined the police, so he cannot
deliver leaflets for me any more. Rob Capella has done fantastic
work. He has been there almost 20 years now. He is recognised by
the community. Less so now, because he has less of a team to
operate, but he used to go on the streets to understand and speak
to people. He was a huge resource as the eyes and ears of the
police, working in the community, and that gleaned great
intelligence. We can only do that if we have sufficient numbers
of police.
Before 2010, we used to have neighbourhood meetings. We would get
police there. We would get PCSOs there. We would get people
speaking to them in Perry Barr. My hon. Friends here will
understand that, in Perry Barr, where we have Handsworth, Lozells
and Aston, there have been significant issues with policing and
crime. Before 2010, we had some of the lowest crime rates across
the country. We did only one thing: increase the police. We had
more PCSOs in those areas, and we delivered for the
community.
People in the Asian community have a huge issue in terms of
robberies that are taking place. Most people understand that it
is a traditional practice to have gold jewellery, particularly
for weddings and those sorts of events. Those things have been
targeted specifically, and damage has been done to buildings and
to people. We need more police officers, and we will achieve that
only if, on Thursday, we look at the police settlement for the
west midlands and listen to the PCC, who is working hard to
ensure that we get more police officers. It is the only way to
deal with crime. That is what Margaret Thatcher said—to give an
example of someone the Minister may look up to. The only way to
police is to ensure that there is sufficient policing in the
community. If we do not have sufficient police in the community,
it is not safe for them or for my constituents. My plea is that
West Midlands police get their fair share of the police officers
required to give our communities peace of mind and to have law
and order in our city and my constituency.
16:46:00
(Birmingham, Selly Oak)
(Lab)
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I
congratulate my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for
Birmingham, Edgbaston (), on leading the debate,
and my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (), who is now the shadow
Minister for Immigration—and apparently for debate procurement—on
securing the debate.
I hear all the time from constituents who are frustrated about
the small number of prosecutions of those who burgle our homes,
steal our cars and threaten our loved ones. It is inescapable
that falling police numbers are part of the explanation of why
that is happening and why people are so frustrated. Even if the
Prime Minister and the Policing Minister keep their promise and
restore some of their party’s cuts to police funding, we will
still end up with 1,000 fewer officers in the west midlands than
in 2010, and we will continue to suffer from an unfair formula
that drives up our council tax and gives us a smaller share of
Government grant than places such as neighbouring Warwickshire,
resulting in its ability to increase its police numbers at the
very time that ours have been substantially reduced. That is the
unfairness.
I am totally behind the call for a fairer formula, properly
applied, and better funding for West Midlands police. It is
essential if our constituents are to get a better deal. I also
wonder whether other areas of reform need consideration. In 2005,
my old boss, , who I am sure you remember,
Sir Edward, suggested proposals to increase police numbers and to
lower costs by reshaping and reducing the overall number of
forces. His ideas, as the Minister may know, were bolstered by a
report from Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary that
argued that the existing structure of the police was not fit for
purpose. It recommended creating strategic constabularies of
sufficient size to provide effective neighbourhood policing and
tackle organised crime.
Those plans were opposed by politicians of all parties, if I
remember correctly, and by chief constables and the then
Association of Police Authorities. As a result, we still have
broadly the same configuration in place almost 17 years later,
although now it seems to have been bolstered by Police and Crime
Commissioners
I acknowledge that lots of Police and Crime
Commissioners do a good job and make a good impact, although
it occurs to me—the Minister will recall a debate in this place a
few weeks ago—that they have in their own way led to a further
politicisation of the police. They have brought much more
politics into the police, which is why we had an argument the
other week about the West Midlands police and crime
commissioner’s Conservative opponents opposing his police plan
which, of course, is a requirement. But the creation of so many
commissioners also means that reform, which may mean reducing the
number of forces, is much less likely to take place now.
I have concluded that we need two things: top-quality detectives,
investigators and specialists to help crack the cyber-crime that
destroys businesses and empties bank accounts, to stop people
such as modern slavers and to smash criminal gangs. But we also
need police to tackle burglary, vehicle theft and antisocial
behaviour. If neighbourhood policing is forced to compete with
organised crime for resources, I suspect it will always be the
poor relation. In the west midlands, we have already lost 50% of
neighbourhood officers.
Perhaps now is the time to think again about reform. Why not a
two-tier system, with ringfenced resources protecting the numbers
policing our streets, gathering local intelligence and keeping
the community safe and a separately funded second tier of
specialised officers able to wage war on organised crime? That
would require revision of the formula and probably a reduction in
the overall number of forces, but it could yield the kind of
policing that many of our constituents are asking for.
16:52:00
(Coventry North West)
(Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I
thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington () for securing this important
debate and my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston
() for leading it.
It goes without saying that over a decade of Conservative budget
cuts have had a hugely damaging effect on police forces up and
down the country. Since 2010, police staff numbers across England
have declined dramatically. We have over 21,000 fewer people
working in the police: 8,000 fewer officers, 7,000 fewer staff
and 7,000 fewer community police officers.
We have talked about how the police cannot deal with these levels
of cuts without a devasting impact on public safety, on upholding
the law and on the morale of the remaining workforce. However,
those national figures do not give the full picture, which is why
we are here today in this important debate.
The impact of deep funding cuts to neighbourhood policing in the
west midlands has been beyond terrible. The region currently
suffers from the fourth highest crime rates in the country.
Between 2010 and 2018, Government cuts have decimated
neighbourhood policing in the west midlands by almost 40%. This
is disgraceful. In the last 10 years, the number of police
community support officers has been cut in half.
Officers are now severely overstretched and unable to be a
visible presence in a single neighbourhood, and crime rates in
the west midlands have certainly not been cut. Over the last 10
years, overall crime in the west midlands has risen by 21% and
violent crime has risen by 41%. That is not a coincidence.
While the Government have spent a decade dismantling
neighbourhood policing in the west midlands, our police officers
have found themselves struggling to combat or prevent crime and
unable to provide the public with policing rooted in their
neighbourhood. My constituents in Coventry North West are
suffering the consequences of that. They tell me that seeking
justice when they are the victim of a crime is incredibly
difficult. Many feel unsafe in their own homes or on their
streets, especially the most vulnerable among them.
This is certainly the case for one of my constituents, Maureen
Crealey. After parking her car in her own driveway, Maureen woke
up to find that it had been stolen in the middle of the night.
This was one of a string of car thefts on her street. When
Maureen reported this crime to the police, they gave her a number
and took her details, but no one has since gone to her house. No
one has gone to examine her street or provided reassurances to
the public. Maureen is a widow who lives alone and has been left
feeling frightened, abandoned and vulnerable—not by the police
but, in her own words, by a system that has failed to give our
police the necessary
“manpower to cover our streets”.
Maureen was very clear when she wrote to me:
“More money needs to be invested in our police to protect the
citizens of Coventry.”
I could not agree more. Without extra resources and police
officers, police forces do not have the capacity to give
constituents such as Maureen the support they need to feel safe
in their own homes. In fact, police capacity to respond to
anything except the most dire emergency has been diminished
significantly. I know that this reality pains many current and
former officers. Officers know only too well that policing in
this country is cash-strapped and struggling to keep up with
complex demands and rising crime rates. This is exactly why
antisocial behaviour, drug dealing, theft and home burglaries are
all too common in Coventry.
The police are not able to deal with these common crimes, because
this Conservative Government have hamstrung policing capacity in
my city. Most worryingly, the cuts have regrettably diminished
trust in the police. Many constituents do not feel that the
police are on their side or are visible enough in their
community. This is often because police officers cannot be
everywhere at once and because their capabilities are being
slashed by the Government. We must take urgent action to support
our neighbourhood policing in the west midlands. The Government
must support our outstanding police and crime commissioner,
, who has been working
tirelessly to rebuild neighbourhood policing and invest in
community police officers.
I call on the Government to work with Simon and to restore our
neighbourhood policing in the west midlands, but the Government
must not stop there. They must reform the policing funding
formula to ensure that sufficient sustainable resources are
fairly allocated to the west midlands. They must strengthen youth
and prevention services to make sure that we tackle the root
causes of crime. They must pass a victims Bill that prioritises
the needs and experiences of victims as they move through the
criminal justice system. To truly fulfil the Government’s pledge
to level up the west midlands, will the Minister agree to enact
these much-needed measures, or will the Government’s inaction be
further proof that “levelling up” is another hollow slogan from
the Prime Minister?
16:58:00
(Birmingham, Hall Green)
(Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I
would like to thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham,
Erdington () for securing the debate. I
also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston
(), who is my constituency
neighbour, for leading it.
I recently had the pleasure of joining local police units on an
operation in the Sparkbrook area of my constituency. The
operation was focused on road and traffic offences and was a huge
success. Several untaxed and uninsured drivers were picked up,
stolen vehicles were towed and parking tickets were issued by
Birmingham City Council’s civil enforcement officers. The
operation was very well received by residents and was a great
example of the kind of productive work that can be done in
partnership between the police and the local authority. Officers
were glad to be out in the community, working to keep people
safe, and residents were thankful for their efforts.
However, it also gave me an opportunity to speak to Inspector
Fitzpatrick and Sergeant Chris Gallon, who informed me of the
constant challenges faced by themselves and officers. We all know
that police numbers are stretched thinner than ever before and
that the Government’s promise of 20,000 more officers across the
country will barely begin to address the challenges faced. Crime
is becoming more complex, with many offences spanning numerous
boundaries in terms of enforcement and responsibility. The
decimation of local council funding and support after years of
Tory austerity has meant that police are often the first to
respond to those in greatest need of care. All this occurred
alongside a worrying spike in gang activity and other serious
crime.
As a result, our police officers are often bogged down in
reactive policing, with fewer and fewer resources available for
proactive, long-term community work. We know that neighbourhood
policing takes time, commitment and sustained effort over many
months to build productive partnerships with local businesses and
community groups. Local officers in Birmingham, Hall Green are
already doing much of this work despite the scant resources
available to them. Imagine what could be achieved if our police
were fully resourced and supported in their efforts.
Another thing I learned while speaking to officers is that the
problems confronting neighbourhood policing are clear and
straightforward. Resources are simply not available, either to
the police or the local council. It is evident that our
communities want a greater police presence. Neighbourhood
policing gives us the opportunity to really tackle the social
problems that many of our constituencies face daily. I urge the
Government and the Minister to examine seriously the resources
required to ensure consistent delivery of neighbourhood policing
in the west midlands.
Back in 2000, when I was given responsibility for neighbourhoods
and community safety, police numbers were increased and we saw a
decline in criminal activity in the west midlands and Birmingham
area. That has reversed under Tory austerity. Enough is
enough—that is what our constituents tell us daily. It is vital
that the Government and the Minister listen not only to residents
but to the police themselves, and particularly those who patrol
the streets we live in and who see what is happening, about what
is needed to keep communities safe, for the police to protect and
for us, as elected Members, to represent them.
17:03:00
(Dudley North) (Con)
It is a real pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Sir
Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington () for securing the debate. This
Government value all our police officers. That is why, with our
11,053 extra police officers, we are not on target, but ahead of
target to deliver our manifesto pledge of 20,000 new officers;
there are 867 new officers already working in the west
midlands.
The financial settlement gave West Midlands police an
inflation-busting 5.8% increase to its budget—a staggering £36
million. In addition, the rises in local tax that residents pay,
together with council tax, put West Midlands police at the top of
league tables across the country for precept increases; since
2012, a staggering increase of 79% has been imposed on people in
Dudley North and across the west midlands by the Labour police
and crime commissioner.
Dudley people—and those across the west midlands, I am
certain—can see that effective policing is about more than just
money. It is about local decision making and how that filters
down from the chief constable and the police and crime
commissioner.
(Walsall South) (Lab)
Will the hon. Member give way?
I would rather not, just now. The facts sadly speak for
themselves. We need the right strategy for deploying all the new
police officers we recruit, making the right decisions locally,
and having the will and competence to deliver on them. The Labour
police and crime commissioner has closed dozens of police
stations, while spending more than £30 million on refurbishing
plush offices at his headquarters in Lloyd House in
Birmingham.
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Not just now.
Does it say in the hon. Gentleman’s speech whether he will give
way at any point?
(in the Chair)
Order. Calm down. The hon. Gentleman does not have to give way if
he does not want to.
Meanwhile, Dudley and Sedgley police stations have closed. Some
hope was given to Dudley people when a new police station was
promised in Dudley. It was hailed by my predecessor—the noble
Lord Austin—as a new multimillion-pound station to replace the
one in Brierley Hill. Several years later, we are still waiting
for it. In 2019, it was announced that it would open in 2021, yet
no detailed plans have been submitted by the police and crime
commissioner to the council planning department.
Dudley is a major metropolitan town—I believe it is the largest
town in the country that is not a city—and it has been without a
central police station since late 2017. We are paying the price
for no presence as a result of inaction and incompetence. Perhaps
the Minister might inquire of the police and crime commissioner
when Dudley people might see shovels in the ground and the
promised new station.
I have great respect for a local police inspector in Dudley by
the name of Pete Sandhu and his team. They are trying their
utmost to make do with offices borrowed from Dudley Council that
are, quite frankly, not fit for purpose. Inspector Pete Sandhu,
the local police teams and PCSOs in Dudley town, the surrounding
villages and those across the west midlands not only deserve but
need a station that is fit for purpose. Unfortunately, time and
again, Labour Police and Crime
Commissioners have failed their constituents—including
mine.
On a point of order, Sir Edward. Is it in order—or, indeed, the
custom—for the Minister’s Parliamentary Private Secretary to read
someone else’s speech during a debate?
(in the Chair)
Would the hon. Gentleman like to reply to that?
I would. If the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak () checked, he would find that I
am not, in fact, a PPS.
(in the Chair)
There you are.
I apologise to the hon. Member for Dudley North (). Can I ask who wrote his
speech?
(in the Chair)
Are we having a little debate now?
I wrote it.
(in the Chair)
We have established that. I apologise—I did not call you earlier
because I thought you were a PPS; you are sitting in the PPS’s
place. I know it is a bit of an insult to call anybody a PPS, so
I think we all owe you an apology.
17:09:00
(Croydon Central) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington
() on securing the debate and my
hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston () on taking on the mantle.
I also congratulate my hon. Friends the Members for Birmingham,
Perry Barr (Mr Mahmood), for Birmingham, Selly Oak (), for Coventry North West
() and for Birmingham, Hall
Green () on their powerful speeches.
Every one of them cares about nothing more than the safety of
their constituents, and that is why Labour Members are here en
masse. Sadly, there is only one Government Member present—the
hon. Member for Dudley North (). I suggest that he talks to
more of his constituents about how they experience crime in their
constituency and ponders what they have to say.
This is a vital and timely debate. The Government have dropped
the ball on crime: serious violence is up, prosecutions are down,
and they have no plan to tackle their failures. The west midlands
is an excellent part of the country, with brilliant people who
have hopes, dreams and aspirations that are being hampered by
this Government. In the excellent police and crime commissioner
, whom I visited only a few
weeks ago, they have a champion with the right priorities, but he
is fighting against crime with one hand tied behind his back
because of a Government whose complacency has allowed serious
violence to thrive and neighbourhood policing to dwindle.
There are four areas where that complacency has driven up
violence and other crimes, such as antisocial behaviour. First,
of course, is the lack of policing. The 21,000 lost police
officers is a well-worn statistic, but less well known are the
50% cuts to police community support officers, the eyes and ears
of our community. The Government have dismantled neighbourhood
policing since 2010. Do not take my word for it: twice as many
people now as in 2010 say that they never see police on the
streets.
Secondly, the UK is now Europe’s largest heroin market and a
target for international drug-trafficking gangs. That has
increased violence on our streets and steered a trend towards
youth violence, with increasingly young children carrying knives
and drugs. Thirdly, violence against women and girls has reached
epidemic levels, as defined by Her Majesty’s inspector of
constabulary and fire and rescue, Zoë Billingham, in her damning
report earlier this year. Prosecution rates for crimes such as
rape and sexual assault are on the floor. Fourthly, all the
services that support young people, such as youth work, treatment
for drug addiction and support for children with special
educational needs, and that more broadly tackle inequality and
poverty have been decimated after 11 years of drift.
The west midlands has not been exempt from the impact of those
cuts. Despite the excellent work of , who has put rebuilding
neighbourhood policing at the heart of his agenda, the force will
be 1,000 officers short of where it was in 2010. By anyone’s
description, that is a large number of officers for one region.
It cannot be right that, even with the so-called uplift to police
numbers—as an aside, just 400 of the first tranche of 6,000
national recruits have been placed in frontline roles—the west
midlands faces such a large shortfall.
The Government make a fanfare of their fêted levelling-up agenda,
but make no mistake: there is no levelling up when it comes to
the west midlands constabulary. If this Government do not put in
place more funding, West Midlands police will face annual cuts of
£60 million to deal with rising costs. The west midlands police
and crime commissioner recently made a cross-party call for fair
funding for the force that he oversees, and is calling for the
Government to plug the black hole and put funding in place for
the 1,000 missing officers. I support those calls. Does the
Minister?
I recently met and saw for myself the
excellent work that he is doing through solid policing, and
through innovation via the violence reduction unit. For example,
a new scheme places youth workers along routes to schools; they
act as trusted adults, pull children away from crime, and
de-escalate potential violence. Violence reduction units do good
preventive work, but there is no long-term funding model for
them, and the Minister knows that. They rely on annual funding. I
am especially disappointed that seemed unaware of this fact on
“Politics Live” last week. He claimed that a long-term funding
model had been put in place, and also seemed unaware of his role
in tackling violence through his responsibilities for youth
unemployment, community cohesion and housing, which all have
vital roles to play. Can the Minister confirm whether the VRU in
the west midlands will receive a funding settlement of longer
than one year?
Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue
noted that West Midlands police
“is good at strategic planning, organisational management and
providing value for money.”
However, it added that the force cannot
“meet the demand for its services in protecting vulnerable people
with the resources it has.”
Ultimately, it is the people of the west midlands who lose out;
it is they who bear the brunt of this lack of funding. That
cannot be acceptable. If the Government are serious about
levelling up, they must start with organisations such as West
Midlands police. Can the Minister commit to filling the gaping
hole in resources in the west midlands, so that it is not 1,000
officers down on 10 years ago?
Neighbourhood policing in every community will always be Labour’s
top priority. Keeping people safe will always be Labour’s top
priority. I urge the Government to make it theirs.
17:14:00
The Minister for Crime and Policing ()
As always, Sir Edward, it is a joy to appear before you, and it
was great to hear the speech from the hon. Member for Croydon
Central ()—I think it was 3a this time. I
have heard it a number of times before. [Interruption.] I am
sorry; they are all broadly the same.
I often find these debates a bit disheartening. They make me
wonder how many years will have to pass before Labour Members
stop constantly using the refrain “austerity”. It is almost 12
years ago that that necessary corrective financial action was
taken, and I hope that in time, Opposition Members will mature
beyond looking back over a decade for the impact that they are
seeing today. Even if they do not, wouldn’t it be nice if any
argument about austerity were presaged by an apology for crashing
the economy—for the Labour Government that ran it hot, allowed
the banks to take dreadful risks, ran down the country’s reserves
and then almost bankrupted the country, ushering in a coalition
Government who had to take difficult financial decisions?
[Interruption.]
(in the Chair)
Order. Silence.
I have never shied away from those difficult financial decisions
that have to be taken. Nevertheless, generations will pass, and
maybe in 50 years the Labour party will stop talking about that
period of austerity and talk about what is happening today.
Today, I thought I was coming to a debate about the value of
neighbourhood policing. However, it has become obvious that this
is a pretty naked political manoeuvre in advance of some
difficult financial decisions that the police and crime
commissioner for the west midlands will have to make as he moves
towards setting his council tax. My hon. Friend the Member for
Dudley North () has highlighted how
significantly council tax has increased over the past few
years.
Most of the hon. Members present are experienced
parliamentarians. As such, they all know that the funding formula
is set in law, and when the police settlement is announced later
this year, it will be divvied up between the forces as per the
legislation. There is nothing we can do, discretionarily or
otherwise, to change that; the funding formula has been in place
for some time. We have acknowledged that it is elderly, as I have
said at the Dispatch Box—the hon. Member for Croydon Central has
heard me say it many times. We are working on a replacement, and
we hope to have one in place soon. Nevertheless, this year, as
hon. Members know perfectly well, the police settlement will be
settled on the basis of that legislation, so the social media
posts, tweets and videos that Members put out will be promoting
to the public a misapprehension that something could change
before later this week, when the police settlement will be
announced.
Beyond that, I find these debates a bit disheartening because of
the lack of curiosity exhibited by Members about the performance
in the west midlands. For example, they never ask themselves why
other police forces are doing better. Why is Liverpool doing
better than the west midlands? Why is Humberside doing better
than the west midlands? They point to the reduction in police
numbers in the west midlands and the fact that the numbers at the
end of the uplift may not be above where they were in 2010, but
they do not ask themselves why there are forces, such as those in
Kent and London, where those numbers will be higher than in
2010.
I will give way in a moment. Those Members are unwilling to
acknowledge the reason, which is that decisions were made by the
previous Labour police and crime commissioner that set the west
midlands back. They have to take responsibility for those
decisions; they cannot, I am afraid, just come to this Chamber
and keep saying that everything that goes wrong in the west
midlands is the Government’s fault, and that everything that goes
right is the Labour party’s achievement. Nobody is buying that in
Edgbaston, Selly Oak, or anywhere else in the west midlands. They
recognise that difficult decisions had to be made, and I urge the
Labour party to acknowledge those difficult decisions.
was not all good, and he was
not all bad. He had difficult things to do, and he made a set of
choices that produced a particular outcome and a particular
baseline in the west midlands. I have no doubt that that was what
he said in the elections that he won, and that the people of the
west midlands took him at his word and believed him. They have
re-elected a Labour police and crime commissioner, so presumably
they are happy with that performance, but complaining that
everything that goes wrong is down to the Government seems a
little naive to me.
Knife crime has gone up in every single part of England and
Wales.
That is not true.
It is true. I can send the Minister the statistics. Crimes have
gone up across the country. It is not accurate to blame one area
or another for those universal increases and the universal drops
in prosecution. Of course, there are good police forces and less
good police forces, and everyone tries their best. The point we
are trying to make is that we are 1,000 police officers down,
which means neighbourhood policing will suffer. On the point made
by the hon. Member for Dudley North () about the police station, I
should have mentioned that the police and crime commissioner is
waiting for the Conservative council to sell them the land to
build the police station. Perhaps we could talk about that
later.
I understand the hon. Lady’s point, but it is unfair and pulling
the wool over the eyes of the people of the west midlands not to
stand by the fact that a Labour police and crime commissioner—or
any other police and crime commissioner elected, presumably —has
an impact on the force. The decisions they make must have some
implication for the way the force is run and its finances.
I have taken an intervention already; I will take another in a
minute. It is extremely important for the confidence that people
need to have in the west midlands that that is acknowledged. This
was a different period financially for the country; people had to
take difficult decisions. The west midlands made a certain matrix
of decisions that resulted in the outcome today. A number of
forces around the country made different decisions. As a result,
they will have more police officers than they had in 2010. That
is something with which hon. Members will have to wrestle; I am
afraid that is the plain truth.
On neighbourhood policing, I am pleased to hear that there is a
thrust in the west midlands to invest in neighbourhood policing,
not least because the neighbouring Staffordshire force has been
doing that for some years, to great effect. The police and crime
commissioner and the former chief constable there took the
decision to invest in neighbourhood policing and, interestingly,
traffic policing, as the basic building blocks of an excellent
delivery of service to their people. As a result, they saw
significant reductions in neighbourhood crime. My hon. Friend the
Member for Dudley North referred to the uplift number, which is
800-odd. I encourage exactly that kind of intervention. It is
what lies behind our desire to expand the number of police
officers in the country.
Difficult decisions had to be taken over the previous decade—you
were part of the team that took those difficult decisions, Sir
Edward, as a member of the party in power at the time—but the
economics of the country now allow us to invest in policing in
the face of changing crime.
Will the Minister explain why £175 million has been taken from
west midlands policing since 2010, resulting in 2,200 fewer
officers on the street? Giving back 800 officers does not replace
the 2,200 lost. There is a deficit of 1,600. Can the Minister
please explain?
I am sorry if the hon. Gentleman missed it, but as I explained
earlier, his predecessors blew the credit card and broke the bank
in the country. Difficult decisions needed to be made, and the
police and crime commissioner made a certain set of
decisions about how he and the chief constable were going to
prioritise spending.
The hon. Member for Croydon Central is probably tired of hearing
this, but I was Deputy Mayor of London for policing between 2008
and 2012. We faced precisely the same budgetary challenges as the
west midlands. It was extremely difficult; we had a £3.5 billion
budget, and in two years I had to take something like 10% out of
it, which is an enormous cut, but we chose to prioritise police
officer numbers. We fought tooth and nail to maintain those
police officer numbers above 31,000, and we were successful in
doing so. As a result, our crime performance was better. That was
also because of the tactics we pursued; it is not all about
numbers.
Different decisions were made by Police and Crime
Commissioners during that period, and that has resulted in
different outcomes for each of the forces. It would be foolish
and, to be honest, financially illiterate, not to recognise that.
We can see that in police forces’ reserves position, in the
disposition of the property portfolio, and in the balance between
police staff and police officer numbers. Every
year, Police and Crime
Commissioners who preside over all those things, have to
produce a result from that quite complicated combination.
Can the Minister help me out with a point made by the shadow
Minister, the hon. Member for Croydon Central? Dudley Council is
ready to sell the land right now if the police and crime
commissioner decides to sign the contract. Also, planning
permission is not contingent on property ownership. This is about
local decision making. We could shorten the long time that it
would take to get planning permission and get things going
now.
Sir Edward, I feel like a Foxtons representative here,
negotiating a property deal across the Chamber. How dynamic we
can be when we put our minds to it.
There is significant extra funding going into policing, and there
has been over the last two years. We now have a three-year
funding settlement that gives us an enormous uplift in resources.
For the west midlands, that means £655.5 million next year, which
is an increase of £35.1 million. That is a very large increase,
and I hope the west midlands spends it well. We can all agree
that neighbourhood policing is a significant priority, and that
we would like more investment in it. It is welcome that the
police and crime commissioner is doing that in the west
midlands.
We agree that the funding formula is out of date and a little old
fashioned. It has not been reviewed for some time, and we are
working on a replacement. I have given an undertaking at the
Dispatch Box that we expect to hold that review before the next
election, assuming that Parliament runs its full term. Finally—I
will give the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston () time to wind up—there has
been much debate about what position the 20,000 police officers
will put us in. Hon. Members make all sorts of claims about where
we will be. They forget that in the final year of the premiership, there was a
recruitment drive for 3,500 police officers; that can be added to
the number as well. When we get to the end of the 20,000 uplift,
we will, I think, have the highest number of police officers the
country has ever had.
17:27:00
I am sorry that the Minister decided to go off track in his
response. In any event, I am grateful to him. I thank all the
hon. Members who took part in the debate, which made it clear
that at the centre of the issue are families and others across
the west midlands who have felt left behind, and who deserve a
fair police funding settlement. I hope the funding settlement
will reflect that.
The Minister did not clarify the point about the management of
West Midlands police. Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary
and fire and rescue services said:
“The force is good at strategic planning, organisational
management and providing value for money.”
That includes the input of both the police and crime commissioner
and the chief constable in the west midlands. I will not see West
Midlands police run down in that manner.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered funding for neighbourhood policing
in the West Midlands.
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