Policing and Crime

Gary Sambrook Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ms Abbott]

I thank my hon. Friend for that important intervention.

The Government have said they will establish violence reduction units, which is another Labour policy, but in their repeated announcements of the same money they have demonstrated that they are not committed to long-term funding for these units. We will hold them to account on this and on all their pledges—to recruit 20,000 additional police officers, to tackle violent crime, to make our streets safer.

[Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)]

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

[Ms Abbott]

I am coming to a close.

Crime, particularly violent crime, is a tragedy for the victims of crime but it is also traumatic for the mothers and families of the perpetrators of crime. [Interruption.] If Government Members, like me, had had to visit the families of young people who have been the victims of crime, they would not be making a joke of this. The Opposition, knowing how seriously our constituents take this issue, are pledged to hold the Government to account on all their pledges. They must live up to what they have promised. The public deserve no less.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kit Malthouse]

Well, Mr Deputy Speaker—sorry, Mr Speaker! Forgive me. It was a slip of the tongue, and a memory, happily, of old times.

We will recruit 20,000 police officers over the next three years, and Southwark—or, rather, the Met—will receive its share of those officers, alongside whatever the Mayor of London chooses to do in augmenting the Met’s finances. We would be very pleased if the Mayor, whoever that may be after May, stepped in to shoulder much more of the responsibility for fighting crime in the capital in a way that, to be honest, we have not seen in the last few years.

I am not saying this just because it is time. Two years ago almost to the day, I wrote an article in the Evening Standard—an op-ed from the Back Benches—saying exactly the same: that it was about time City Hall stepped forward and fulfilled its responsibilities for fighting crime.

[Gary Sambrook]

I am sorry to make what seems to be an obvious point, but does my hon. Friend not think that it is the job of police and crime commissioners to focus on police and crime? Unfortunately, our police and crime commissioner in the west midlands has spent most of the year so far talking about train delays. His time could be much better spent in talking about and advertising police recruitment in the region, which will benefit from an extra 366 police officers this year.

[Kit Malthouse]

As would be expected, I completely agree with my hon. Friend. He has identified a trend that I have detected, which is returning to policing after an absence of some six years. The policing family in its widest sense has drifted towards an obsession with process rather than product. For example, in the six months for which I have been the policing Minister I have been invited to conferences on computers and human resources, but I have yet to be invited to a conference on crime and how we fight it. We will therefore be holding such a conference in March. We will invite police and crime commissioners to come and talk about crime-fighting policy, and I hope that many of the best of them will do so.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger) and the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Allan Dorans) on their maiden speeches. It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion), whose campaigning on child sexual exploitation I respect and admire.

There is a common misconception that the election we just had was only about getting Brexit done. That is simply not the case. The message was that we must get Brexit done in order to focus on our NHS, on education, and on crime. Those are the people’s priorities and that is exactly what the Government are doing, so it is perplexing that the Opposition have chosen to debate policing and crime today.

This Government are providing £1.1 billion extra for policing. Last week, I was pleased to see in the funding settlement that the west midlands will receive an extra £49 million. That 8% increase means that up to £620 million will be made available to West Midlands police, including for 366 new police officers in the force. Last summer, before I came to this place, I was pleased that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary came to Birmingham to kick-start the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers at the Tally Ho conference and banqueting centre. That facility is an institution in Birmingham and all Brummies should be proud that we have it.

I am pleased that recruitment is taking place in a sensible and realistic way, as a staged process. Some £700 million has been made available to recruit 6,000 new police officers in the first year, 366 of whom will go to the west midlands. In addition, there is £150 million for fighting organised crime, £190 million for fighting serious crime, and £20 million to combat county lines—an issue that affects Birmingham more than most places, so I am interested to learn more about what I can do as a Birmingham MP to help tackle that problem. The extra £90 million for counter-terrorism will take the counter-terrorism budget to just shy of £1 billion at £906 million, including £24 million for the firearms that officers need. We must ensure that we use the money invested in our police forces to provide the police with the resources they need to tackle crime.

Knife crime is an issue that unfortunately affects Birmingham and the west midlands more than most areas. I am pleased that we are putting an additional £35 million into the areas that need it most to reduce knife crime, and the £100 million to tackle violent crime.

[Amanda Solloway (Derby North) (Con)]

In Derby North, we are deeply troubled by knife crime. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must do all we can to tackle knife crime, especially when it involves young people? Does he welcome the youth investment fund—about £500 million, I think—which will be used for work on this issue and help young people?

[Gary Sambrook]

I thank my hon. Friend and dancing partner for her intervention. That investment is really important. The £500 million will provide 60 new youth centres, 100 mobile facilities and 360 refurbishments of youth centres across the country.

We need to send out two messages. First, if you carry a knife you will be arrested; within 24 hours you will be cautioned or charged, and within a week you will be in a courtroom. Secondly, we are looking at the reasons why young people feel it necessary to carry a knife, because it does not have to be that way. That is why the youth investment fund is really important to local communities across the country.

I am pleased that we are focusing on this issue. Today, I read in the regional news that the Conservative candidate to be police and crime commissioner for the west midlands, Jay Singh-Sohal, has set out his plan to tackle knife crime. I will be pleased to join him on the campaign trail to make sure we get a police and crime commissioner in the west midlands who really knows what is going on and really understands the problems we face as a region.

Unfortunately, I do not have any police stations left in my constituency, because the Labour police and crime commissioner for the west midlands decided to spend most of his resources propping up the city centre station, spending £30 million on refurbishment rather than using the network of local police stations across the region, such as in Longbridge and King’s Norton in my constituency. Those resources and the estates could have been used far better, rather than concentrating all our resources into the city centre. Two weeks ago, I was pleased to meet some members of my local neighbourhood team, who are doing so much good work across the patch to ensure that police are seen out on the street and are getting involved in community issues. They do difficult work, sometimes in a difficult environment. I take my hat off to them, because I really respect the work they do.

We have heard much today about police forces not having the resources they need, but last year in the west midlands there was a proposal to merge the role of the police and crime commissioner with that of the Mayor for the west midlands. It provided the perfect opportunity to save money and was a sensible proposal, and we should have just got on with it. Unfortunately, despite the fact that 58% of people in the west midlands agreed with the proposals, the Labour leaders of local authorities in the west midlands decided to play silly political games with the consultation and the process, so the two roles are to be kept separate. That is regrettable. I hope that in future we can look again at a merger.

Labour set out its stall in the election—an alternative thankfully rejected by the people of Birmingham Northfield and the rest of the country. It was mostly empty words. Labour voted against last year’s settlement and had uncosted plans for recruitment. It tried to say that it would recruit an additional 2,000 officers, but forgot to put the £105 million costing in its manifesto. How can people take such figures seriously when it forgets to put them in its own manifesto? Labour is against the strengthening of police powers and would allow dangerous criminals out early.

It is the Conservatives and this Government who are delivering on the people’s priorities, which are that, after Friday, when Brexit is done, we focus all our attention on the NHS, on crime and on schools. That is exactly what this party and the Government are going to do.