Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore AM questioned London  Mayor Sadiq  Khan  and the  Deputy Police Commissioner Craig Mackey over further police station closures and borough mergers, at the London Assembly plenary session on policing on 6^th July.

 

Mr Dismore asked the Mayor:

 

‘There have been worrying recent press reports, that 40 more police stations are to close. Which police stations are to go due to the Government funding shortfall?’

 

The Mayor indicated that the closures were being forced on him by Government underfunding of the Met., and that there would be a consultation before decisions on further closures were taken.

 

Mr Dismore said  that uncertainty due to  any unnecessary delay in publishing the detailed proposals was unwelcome.

 

He asked:

 

‘Would you agree that it is important  that alternative arrangements for the public to contact the Met. are in place before any more closures, and that those measures have the confidence  of the public, for example the 101 number. I have had worrying reports, post the Camden borough merger, of people waiting 20 minutes or more for calls  to be answered, then hanging up in frustration. Will you ensure this is sorted out?

 

‘Another issue, especially in outer London, is how far dedicated neighbourhood  ward  officers have to travel from where they parade at their station, to the wards in which they work,  often several miles away. This can be a long or difficult journey by public transport:  in Barnet for example from the current 24 hour Colindale station  to the borough’s northern and  eastern  wards.

 

‘Will you ensure that arrangements  are made either ideally for officers to parade in or near their wards; or  to  transport them to their wards quickly and efficiently  so that their  time is not wasted in travelling?’

 

The Deputy Commissioner indicated that he agreed that arrangements  to contact the Met  other than through stations had to work properly, and they accepted there were problems in some places with the 101 service, which they were rectifying. In a young city like London, he argued that other ways to contact the police on line and digitally were important and improved access.

 

Whilst he thought it would not be possible to parade officers at the start  of their shifts in their wards, he wanted to address the question by , for example, co- locating with other public or emergency services in their premises.

 

Turning to borough mergers , Mr Dismore  asked:

 

‘Do you consider the Camden and Islington Borough merger to have been a success?’

 

The Deputy Commissioner accepted that they had not got everything right, there was more to do, and they needed to learn from the ‘pathfinder’ mergers like Camden and Islington and make amendments before proceeding with other mergers.

 

Mr Dismore said:

 

‘There have been problems with 101 calls, as I have already raised.

 

‘I have had complaints about a lack of engagement with communities and ward panels by  senior officers.

 

‘There have also been what can only be described as ‘odd’ responses to some crime reports, about which I have tabled written questions for detailed answer, including the police  response to complaints  about drug dealing and anti social behaviour in Seven Dials, where the answer seemed to be to move them off the patch  into Westminster; and the failure  to respond to a complaint  about a motor bike theft.

 

‘There are also concerns about the rather anonymous naming of the merged command by reference to compass points rather than a named geographic area: what was wrong with calling it the Camden and Islington Boroughs command?’

 

The Deputy Commissioner accepted the arguments and said these were issues that would need to be addressed.