(St Austell and Newquay)
(Con):I am delighted to be able to contribute to this debate. In
the interests of transparency, let me first make the House aware
that an immediate member of my family is a serving police officer
with Devon and Cornwall Police—and very proud of
them we are. I also put on the record my huge thanks and
appreciation to all police officers across Devon and Cornwall,
particularly those who work out of St Austell and Newquay police
stations. I have seen at first hand their dedication and they
have helped me a number of times when I have needed it. They do
an incredible job and I am very grateful to them.
I very much welcome the uplift in funding that has been made
available to police across England and Wales today, and I am
particularly grateful that the funding made available
for Devon and Cornwall
Police is being increased by 7.1%, which is higher than
the national average and goes some way to closing the historical
funding gap for our police. We are using that money incredibly
well in Devon and Cornwall, particularly in recruiting more
police officers...
...Devon and Cornwall Police actually polices
the largest force area, in terms of land mass, of any force in
England. We also have the longest coast and the longest road
network, at 13,000 miles, of any police force in England. For all
those reasons, Devon and Cornwall
Police faces a hugely challenging job policing two of
the most rural counties in the country. In Cornwall, over 40% of
people live in communities of fewer than 3,000 people, and we
have no towns with populations above 25,000 people, which
demonstrates just how rural and sparsely population our force
area is. That has an impact on the police’s ability to deliver
the service that we expect of them...
