Andrew Dismore

Government cuts of £17.4m lead Mayor to propose 8p a week council tax rise to defend police officer numbers

 

In  the Autumn police funding settlement for the Metropolitan Police next year, the Government has  recently confirmed  there will  be a cut in central  Government  funding  of £17.4m compared to  2015-16, because of  the decision of previous Mayor Boris Johnson to cut the Metropolitan Police’s funding police precept in the current year’s  council tax..

 

In the 2015 Autumn Statement, the Government announced that police funding will be maintained at current levels, as long as the local police precept is increased by 1.99% a year. Any area that did not provide this additional funding from council tax would see a cash cut in police funding, which is what has happened.

 

In response to the cut, Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced proposals to increase the policing share of council tax bills by an average of 8p a week at Band D from April 2017(a 1.99% increase) in order to help maintain police officer numbers across London, avoiding even bigger cuts to police funding and defending the strategic target of 32,000 officers across London

 

Government funding decisions mean that the Metropolitan Police currently faces a total funding gap of £420m between 2017 and 2021, which can only be met by a combination of reducing police expenditure or council tax rises.  This is on top of the £600 million already cut since 2013.

 

One Met Police Model

 

The ‘One Met Police Model’ sets out the future strategic direction of the Met. These slides help explain the programme.

 

I join the first ever ‘Walk the Met’

 

I joined local Camden officers PC Gerry McGann and PCSO Mandy Nutt to walk the beat for an afternoon in Camden to get an insight into the extra demands placed on officers keeping London safe throughout the festive period. I spoke to local residents and traders about their concerns. Some of the issues raised included anti-social behaviour and moped enabled robbery.

It was a chance to see first-hand how officers have responded to growing pressure on resources and it was impressive to see that they are still able to deliver a professional service with diligence and dedication.  I am very supportive of the ‘Walk the Met’ initiative and hope it becomes a new Christmas tradition for Barnet and Camden and indeed for London as a whole.

 

All new police officers in England and Wales will have to be educated to degree level from next year.

 

A paid three-year “degree apprenticeship” is among three options open to people wanting to join all forces, including the Met, under changes unveiled by the College of Policing. The College will use its powers to force through the changes, which would mean “the public should receive the same level of service regardless of where they live”. The current recruitment system varies from force to force.

Would-be police officers can alternatively do an unfunded degree in policing or a funded postgraduate conversion course if they already have a degree in a different discipline.

The apprenticeship, due to be introduced next year, will see recruits undertake a three-year course, while receiving a salary and having the university academic component funded by their respective force.

The postgraduate conversion course would last six months and would also be funded by police.

The  policing degree would have to be self-funded and the student would still have to successfully apply to become a police officer after completing it.

The college is in discussions with 12 universities about the new system.

Other changes that will be introduced include a national set of qualifications for officers following promotion, including a requirement that all applicants for the rank of assistant chief constable or above have a master’s degree.

A higher-paid “advanced practitioner” position will also be created to entice people to remain in specialist areas such as cyber crime, instead of seeking a promotion that would take them to a different area.

Police and Crime Committee at City Hall

The draft minutes of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee’s meeting held on 1 December 2016 are now available on the Greater London Authority’s website here.

 

The meeting was used principally for a question and answer session on policing and security in and around the London Stadium. (Item 6)

 

You may find my exchanges Commander BJ Harrington (formerly Borough Commander in Camden)  and with Karen Brady of West Ham interesting!

Item 10 was a q and a with Commander Nick Downing as an introductory session on the very damning HMIC report on child protection issues in the Met. With Commander Downing, I particularly raised the implications for merged boroughs like Camden and Islington.

We returned to the HMIC report in detail at our last meeting on 15 December. I will send a link once the transcript is available, in my next report.  I focussed on child protection training, children in custody, and the ‘historic’ football coach abuse investigation.

Also on 15 December, we held our first of what is likely to be three sessions on the draft police and crime plan 2017-2021. The draft minutes are here. I raised the implications for setting priorities in merged boroughs and was given an assurance that each borough will still  be able to set its own priorities, even if different from the other boroughs in the merged command. We also looked at the issue of ‘hit and run’ drivers and the redundant water cannon.

Mayor puts ‘redundant’ water cannon up for sale

Sadiq Khan has revealed the full cost to Londoners of maintaining the three unused water cannon bought by his predecessor as he announced the redundant machines are now for sale via the Ministry of Defence. While the process will incur some fees, remaining funds from the sale, alongside saved maintenance costs, will be channelled back into communities and youth projects towards helping tackle gang crime.

The Mayor will only permit a sale to a buyer who meets the most rigorous ethical standards, to ensure the water cannon are not in any way misused in the future.

Since the previous Mayor’s decision to purchase the water cannon in 2014, more than £322,834 has been spent by the Met Police on purchasing, fitting out and repairing the three machines – despite the fact that they cannot legally be used in the UK and have languished in storage for two years.   Around £21,000 per year has been spent maintaining them. By selling them, the Met. will save almost £175,000over the next eight years which can instead be spent on frontline services.

Mayor’s answers to my policing and crime questions

 

The usual range of questions. You will see I particularly focused on the delays in DBS checks, which are posing a serious problem to some people waiting for checks, so they can take up jobs or volunteering opportunities. I also kept up the pressure, about the cost of policing football. Unfortunately, there are again still too many with holding answers.

 

Mayor’s draft Police and Crime Plan

Please remember that the consultation on the Mayor’s draft Police and Crime Plan ends on the 23 February 2017. There is still time to comment if you wish to do so and haven’t already done so.