Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Paul Howell (Sedgefield) (Con)]

8. What steps he has taken to increase police visibility in local communities.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

15. What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of neighbourhood policing levels.

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of neighbourhood policing levels.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Philp]

I completely agree. Spending money on things such as flowerbeds and diversity staff instead of frontline police officers is the wrong priority. Former frontline officers such as Rob Potts, running for PCC in Durham, will do a good job of getting priorities straight.

[Debbie Abrahams]

Kulsuma Akter from Oldham was murdered by her estranged husband on a busy Bradford street in the middle of the day, in front of their baby son. Research has repeatedly shown that regular foot patrols—especially in crime hotspots—lead to reduced offending and increased public confidence, particularly if combined with community-based prevention. Greater Manchester police and West Yorkshire police want to learn lessons from this tragic murder. What lessons has the Home Secretary learned about reducing neighbourhood policing and the prevalence of such appalling crimes?

[Chris Philp]

That is a tragic case, and we will study any findings by the Independent Office for Police Conduct very carefully. The hon. Lady mentioned hotspot patrolling; I mentioned in a previous answer that the Government are providing £66 million this financial year on top of the regular police funding settlement to fund hotspot patrolling, which may help in such situations. To repeat a previous point, local policing numbers have gone up by about 6,500 since 2015. Selectively quoting figures that are five years old does nothing to help public debate.