The petition of residents of the constituency of Kensington,
Declares that it is imperative that a physical police presence, that being defined as a police station with a counter, continues to be located within the boundaries of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, North of Holland Park Avenue/Notting Hill Gate; further that such a presence is needed because tackling crime in the area, particularly violent crime, poses significant challenges and the Grenfell community deserve to have a police presence; and further that a guarantee of police presence should be made as soon as reasonably possible and no later than the date set for the closure of Royalty Studios (North Kensington) Police Station.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to take immediate action to ensure that a physical police presence is retained and not withdrawn from Kensington.
And the petitioners remain, etc.
—[Presented by Felicity Buchan, Official Report, 6 July 2021; Vol. 698, c. 856.]
[P002672]
Observations from The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse):
On 4 February 2021, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021-22, an increase of up to £600 million compared with the 2020-21 settlement. From that, the Metropolitan Police Service’s funding will be up to £3.1 billion in 2021-22, an increase of up to £132.4 million on the 2020-21 police funding settlement.
Decisions on how to use funding and resources are an operational matter for the Commissioner and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience, including the management of the police estate. In doing so the Government would hope they could canvass and assess the views of the local neighbourhoods concerned.