Oral Answers to Questions

Siobhain McDonagh Excerpts

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hurd]

We will set out the details in the funding settlement, later. The Treasury has made quite clear its intention to fund most of those costs. The rest will be clear in the police funding settlement.

[Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of police numbers; and if he will make a statement.

[The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service (Mr Nick Hurd)]

This year, the Government took through a police funding settlement that resulted in an additional £460 million of public investment in policing. Most police and crime commissioners are either maintaining or increasing the number of police officers.

[Siobhain McDonagh]

One of the casualties resulting from the cut of 21,000 police officers since 2010 has been the safer neighbourhood team in Mitcham town centre. The consequence has been an increase in drug dealing, street drinking, fighting, antisocial behaviour and men urinating in the street, which has meant that women do not want to take their children into the town centre. When will the Home Office accept the correlation between visible policing and crime, so that we can afford to have enough police to put more bobbies back on the beat in Mitcham and every town centre?

[Mr Hurd]

Speaking as a London MP and the Minister for London, I hope the hon. Lady will welcome the fact that the Met commissioner is actively recruiting an additional 1,000 officers, on top of the 1,000 the Met needs to recruit to stand still.