(Lab): The Home
Secretary recently told Police and Crime Commissioners to stop
pointing out the pressing need for more money for our
underresourced police and instead concentrate on those who are
breaking the law. That outburst was clearly an admission by the
Government that they will let down the police yet again in the
forthcoming Budget by not providing the resources that PCCs and
the police need to do their job. What representations, if any,
have Transport Ministers made to the Treasury that on increasing
numbers of occasions road traffic offences—including vehicle
theft and using hand-held mobile phones while driving—cannot even
be pursued by the police, let alone see perpetrators brought to
justice, due to the continuing squeeze on police budgets and
continuing reductions in the number of police officers? Can I
take it that the Department for Transport, despite the recent
publicly expressed concerns of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary,
has remained utterly silent on the issue of inadequate police
resources?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Transport (Baroness Sugg) (Con): My Lords, we are
very sensitive to the pressures which police face. We recognised
the importance of wider police spending in the 2015 spending
review, which protected overall police spending in real terms. It
is of course up to Police and Crime Commissioners and chief
constables of each police force to decide how they deploy
resources. As my noble friend Lady Pidding highlighted, as well
as working closely with the police to support enforcement action,
police forces across the country are doing valuable work in the
campaign to reduce hand-held mobile use and we should commend
them.
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