(Blaydon) (Lab)
3. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on
the impact of the level of police funding for Wales on crime.
(906145)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales ()
On levels of crime, Office for National Statistics data for the
year ending September 2021 show that crime levels per capita in
Wales are below the national average across England and Wales. As
for funding, this Conservative Government will always be the
party of law and order, and that is why I am pleased to be able
to say that we are putting £820 million into policing next year,
an increase of £40 million.
In the nearly 13 years the Government have been in power, police
staffing has fallen by 25,000. Across the UK, there are 7,000
fewer police community support officers on the streets than there
were in 2010. In Wales, the Welsh Labour Government, which does
not have jurisdiction over policing, have stepped in and funded
500 PCSOs and will fund a further 100. Does that not show that
the Tories are happy to see rising crime and an increase in
victims, and it is only Labour which is taking action to keep our
communities safe?
What it shows is that the Welsh Government will have had a record
increase in spend of around £2.5 billion over the next couple of
financial years. What I can also tell the hon. Lady is that 603
additional police officers are being allocated for Wales, 479
have taken that opportunity and there are still 100 vacancies. As
somebody who spent nine years as a special constable, I recommend
to anyone who wants to serve their community that they should
consider joining a police force in Wales.
(Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
(Lab)
English police forces are fully reimbursed by the Government for
the cost of training police officers. In Wales, the Home Office
has reimbursed only half the cost, leaving Welsh police forces
with a shortfall of over £2 million. Will the Minister and the
Secretary of State persuade their Cabinet colleagues to meet the
historical funding shortfall in full, so that Welsh police forces
are no longer penalised and are in future treated equally with
English ones?
This is actually a quite complex problem, and far more complex
perhaps than we have time for in this forum. The real problem is
that the Welsh Government are failing to discuss with the Home
Office how the apprenticeship scheme works. I urge the hon.
Gentleman to talk to his colleagues in the Welsh Labour
Government, get them to recognise the apprenticeships schemes and
ensure that police officers are properly trained and police
forces fully refunded.
