Matthew Scott is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent.
Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners have labored with the Authorities to recruit not simply the promised 20,000 officers, however an extra 3,000 extra.
There are extra police than ever earlier than – delivering additional visibility, extra expenses, and higher companies for our residents and companies.
In Kent, a brand new neighbourhood policing mannequin is being carried out, which is able to see each ward have entry to a named officer, and colleges could have entry to a named officer or PCSO. Our rural workforce has expanded once more to incorporate PCSOs, who’re centered on prevention, and each district could have its personal taskforce, tackling crime and fixing issues as they come up.
Additional officers have additionally been put into response, street policing, and investigating violence towards girls and ladies. Knife crime is down and so is housebreaking.
There may be nonetheless work to do, however there was actual progress – all of which is able to all be put in danger by Labour’s plans.
Not for the primary time, their numbers don’t add up. Labour’s re-announcement of 13,000 police and PCSOs sounds fantastic on paper, however the element is poor and won’t ship what they are saying it’ll.
The Opposition aren’t actually promising 13,000 additional law enforcement officials; of this whole, 3,000 have already been recruited – by Conservative PCCs.
One other 3,000 are particular constables. You’ll not discover a greater supporter of specials than me, however Labour have to be trustworthy and say that the minimal working requirement is 16 hours a month, a great distance from full-time.
In Kent, we’re so fortunate to have many who do much more than that, as a result of we take a versatile strategy towards permitting them to affix totally different groups and giving them entry to extra coaching. Not all chief constables do the identical, and they’re struggling to retain them, one other issue which can undermine Labour’s headline dedication.
That leaves 3,000 constables and 4,000 PCSOs. How they’ll fund this?
They’ve argued that they imagine that they will discover £360m of effectivity financial savings to pay for it, and that they willwill arrange a nationwide buying physique to purchase issues on behalf of policing.
There’s only one drawback with that: we’re already doing it.
Bluelight Business was established by PCCs and chief constables in 2020. It has delivered over £60m of direct profit to this point, and as extra contracts go to market that profit will develop. As chair of the corporate, I’m proud that the workforce has overachieved its objective of serving to forces lower your expenses.
By beginning once more with a brand new nationwide buying physique, these forces should anticipate Labour to get the quango established (and for a price range to fund it), anticipate the contracts to align, do the procurement and industrial exercise, and solely then realise the beneficial properties. That can take some years, particularly to get to the extent of financial savings they count on to make.
Furthermore, what occurs if costs go up? Once they discuss of shared companies, the place do the cuts fall in actuality? Extra police workers jobs.
The House Workplace has been improbable of their help and funding for BlueLight Business. We don’t want to begin once more from scratch and put our progress on effectivity in danger.
You merely can’t belief Labour on policing. You solely want to have a look at their PCC in London – Sadiq Khan – to know that. He did not recruit his share of the additional officers, and doesn’t again the police to help Londoners. Now, nationally, their numbers on policing don’t add up – once more.