Violence Reduction, Policing and Criminal Justice

Steve Double Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

It is a joy to participate in this debate on the King’s Speech from the Back Benches again, following my year of exile in the Government Whips Office. If I had more time I would have commented on some of the amendments calling for a ceasefire and addressing the situation in Israel and Gaza, and on some of the scenes we have seen on our streets in this country over a few weeks. However, due to lack of time, I can say no better than that I agree with every word that my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Sir Michael Ellis) said earlier in what I thought was an excellent speech.

On the other aspect of today’s debate, criminal justice and policing, I welcome the measures that the Government are bringing forward, because they build on the positive progress that we have made over the past 13 years to bring down crime and improve our criminal justice system. Clearly there is more to do, and I welcome the measures to ensure that those who commit the most serious crimes and are convicted serve the whole of their sentence in prison. That is absolutely right.

I also welcome the measures to address drug and knife crime and antisocial behaviour. We are lucky enough in Cornwall to live in one of the lowest crime areas of the country, but we have a significant problem with antisocial behaviour. The two main towns that I represent, Newquay and St Austell, both have significant issues with antisocial behaviour. That issue is raised with me frequently by local residents, and I look forward to working with the Government to see what more we can do to address it.

Labour Members have mentioned raising confidence in policing. For the sake of transparency, I declare that a member of my immediate family is a serving police officer, and as a family we are very proud of them and the work they do. It is incredibly welcome that we have delivered on our manifesto promise to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers. In Devon and Cornwall we now have 3,715 serving police officers, which is 600 more than in December 2019 and a record number. We must ensure that those additional police officers are seen and felt on the front line. The public need to see and feel that we have those additional police officers on the front line, and that is not always the case. I encourage the Government to look at the reasons why that is not seen to be the case, and to see what more can be done.

We must ensure that police officers spend their time doing police work. One thing I have observed from going out on patrol with police officers in my constituency is just how much of their time is spent filling the gaps left by other parts of the public sector, whether that is the NHS, the local authority or, in particular, social services. It is not right that police officers are expected to spend so much of their time doing work they are not trained to do and that should be the responsibility of other parts of the public sector. I encourage the Government and, in particular, Home Office Ministers to look at what more can be done to ensure police officers spend their time preventing and fighting crime, rather than filling the gaps left by other parts of the public sector.

We also need to recognise that our expectation of policing has changed massively in recent years, and to understand the greater scrutiny that our police officers are under. Many of them welcome that, but some of the recent coverage in the media is having an impact on the morale of police officers on the frontline. We need to be aware of that. Many are concerned that, just for doing what they believe is the right thing to deliver the job, they may be held up and possibly even lose their job. While it is right that we hold them to account and that we remove those rogue bad apples that are inevitably in any organisation of that size, we need to recognise that the vast majority of police officers are decent, honest and professional, and they simply want to do a good job to serve the public and keep us all safe.