Policing (England and Wales)

Marco Longhi Excerpts

Wednesday 10th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con) [V]]

I thank the Minister for his announcements today. I would also like to thank the Home Secretary, because I know how much she values all our police forces. That is why, with 6,620 extra police officers, we are now on target to deliver on our manifesto pledge of 20,000 new officers, 613 of whom are already working in the West Midlands. The financial settlement will see the West Midlands receiving an inflation-busting 5.8%. increase to their budget. That is a staggering £36 million, and nearly eight times the rate of inflation. In addition, the local tax rises that residents pay, together with their council tax, put the West Midlands at the top of the league table for precept increases across England, with a staggering increase of 79% since 2012 that the Labour police and crime commissioner has imposed on local people in Dudley North and across the West Midlands.

However, figures show that crime continues to rise. Violent crime in the West Midlands has more than doubled since 2015, so we need robust regional leadership to tackle this, and a police and crime commissioner who is willing to work with the Home Secretary and the Policing Minister to deliver safer streets in our communities. Despite the unprecedented level of funding, sadly, I must report to the House that gang warfare recently broke out on Dudley High Street and that, a week later, a local businessman was murdered. It would seem that the Labour PCC has lost control of policing.

Dudley people and, I am quite certain, the people of the West Midlands can see that effective policing is about more than just money; it is about local decision making and how that filters down from the chief constable and the police and crime commissioner. Here, the facts sadly speak for themselves. This is about having the right strategy to deploy all the new police officers we are recruiting, about making the right decisions locally and about having the will and competence to deliver on them.

The Labour PCC has closed several police stations while spending more than £30 million on refurbishing plush offices at his headquarters at Lloyd House in Birmingham. Meanwhile, Dudley police station and Sedgley police station have closed. Some hope was given to Dudley people when a new police station in Dudley was promised. In fact, it was hailed by my predecessor as a new multimillion-pound station to replace the Brierley Hill one. Several years later, we are still waiting for it. In 2019, it was announced that it would open in 2021, yet no detailed plans have been submitted by the PCC to the council planning department. Dudley, a major metropolitan town, has a town centre that has been without a police station since late 2017, and we are now paying the price for no presence as a result of inaction and incompetence.

We have seen the stark difference when we have elected Mayors and police and crime commissioners who are able and make things happen, compared with those who just play politics. I stated earlier that it is much more than money that fixes problems; it is competence and leadership. Effective people can open doors in Government and unlock further funding, but only when coupled with plans that can show clear deliverability. This is what Andy Street has proved as our Mayor, and it is what I know we would have with Jay Singh-Sohal and with Andy again after the May elections. I will always back the police, and this Conservative Government will always back the police, because that is what people expect.