(Cardiff South and Penarth)
(Lab/Co-op): If everything is so rosy, why do we hear
about a very different picture from chief constables and police
and crime commissioners in their regular sessions before the Home
Affairs Committee? I want to ask the Minister a specific question
about funding for capital cities. I have repeatedly asked, as has
the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, for Cardiff to get
additional resources, given its responsibilities as a capital
city. Why are the Minister and the Government refusing to do
that? Cardiff gets less funding per capita than the west
midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Given our
responsibilities as a capital city, surely that is not right.
The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service (Mr Nick
Hurd): I am happy to sit down with the hon. Gentleman
personally to discuss that in more detail. I am not suggesting
that everything is rosy in the world of policing, as the police
face a very challenging set of circumstances, but I am announcing
how we will increase investment in our police...
:...South Wales
police are already doing all those things. We have reduced the
reserves to the minimum level allowed. We have collaborated
hugely on bringing services together. Seven contact and control
rooms have been reduced to one, and 18 custody facilities have
been reduced to four. Our command unit structure has been
streamlined, we have reduced the estate by a third, and we have
reduced the fleet by 20%. The bottom line is that, with demand
going up, we have reduced the reserves and made all those
efficiency savings. Now the Minister is offering a flat-terms
settlement, which is a cut. Where else do we go?
Mr Hurd: What I am actually offering is £6.7
million of additional cash investment in South Wales policing
next year. I have taken on board everything that the hon.
Gentleman has said, and I congratulate the leadership of South
Wales police on what it has done to improve efficiency. The level
of the reserves is not extravagant. Where I take umbrage with the
hon. Gentleman is on the amount of investment, which, as I have
said, will rise by £6.7 million next year. I hope he will welcome
that...
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