Business of the House

Tom Blenkinsop Excerpts
Thursday 19th April 2012

(12 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Young of Cookham Portrait Sir George Young
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The short answer is yes. Perhaps I should not develop that too much, in view of what I said earlier about my Liberal Democrat friends. Under the last Labour Government, council tax doubled across England. This Government have worked with councils to freeze council tax for two years. I applaud what has happened in Harlow, where the council anticipated that policy by freezing council tax for a third year. Those who have an opportunity to vote next month must cast their votes according to the record to which my hon. Friend has referred.

Tom Blenkinsop Portrait Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
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Cleveland has seen a 1.2% rise in crime this week and has lost 224 police officers since May 2010, and yet the Home Secretary has never visited the north-east region to see the effects of her cuts. Can we have a debate on rising crime in the north-east, which is due to the Government’s cuts to front-line police?

Lord Young of Cookham Portrait Sir George Young
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I think that the hon. Gentleman makes a mistake in drawing a direct correlation between the volume of crime and the number of police officers; it is a much more subtle equation than he implies. He will know that in many parts of the country, police authorities have coped with the challenging budgets without reducing the front-line effectiveness of the police force. I will see whether Home Office Ministers are able to visit the north-east to see at first hand what is going on. I hope that the police authority will respond to the challenge and maintain front-line effectiveness, as has happened in other parts of the country.