Speech given at Council on the 7th of February: the crisis besetting the future of Greater Manchester Police Funding.

Posted By: Dale Mulgrew
Date Posted: 07/02/2007

Madam Mayor it doesn’t give me a great deal of benevolence to have to introduce this motion on behalf of the ruling administration, but alas there is a duty of this council to act in recognition that the Greater Manchester Police Force are currently  under-funded and under-resourced and this will inexorably continue unless there is a change of heart from government. We may not be in the midst of a fully fledged crisis just yet, but the cusp is encroaching and the messenger has to be sent to warn of impending gloom.

Let me be clear that this motion serves neither as a criticism nor an indictment of the present policing service which this Borough receives and is in deep gratitude of.

We all know under the direction of acting chief superintendent David Hull - and here in the Rochdale Township which I am most familiar with is Inspector Diane Wright – is a dedicated force of service personnel who give their all, ably supported by a new battalion of Police community support officers who have been recently deployed amongst our local communities. Thus the police under the circumstances it has to be acknowledged perform a crucial and vital role in crime prevention and reduction, and in aiding criminal prosecution.

Of course they are supported in their work by the Rochdale safer communities partnership - a successful collaboration between the council and the police and there should be no uncertainty to what impact and affect this cross-agency work has realised for the Borough.

However, crime and fear of crime continues to be the one issue which reliably persists as a major concern and fear for our residents of this Borough across the four Townships. Although there is an undeniable magnitude of apprehension connected with major criminal activity, the real irritant and day to day anxiety is born out of petty criminality and the present scourge of society - anti social behaviour and youth nuisance.   This will undoubtedly be the same response when members engage in the next election in a couple of months.

Let us not be under any illusory context, crime according to the Government authority on this - the British crime survey is on an upward trend and went up 3.6 per cent last year, and at present the year to date in Rochdale Borough crime is on an increase of 4% across the comparator crimes. Once concludes that not only is there a fear factor prevalent, but the reported figures add a chilling resonance.

In response what do we see? 

A general view across the Townships is that the police are just not visible enough. Moreover, they are not seen to be fighting and tackling low level illicit and anti social activity - less police presence on the ground and a diminishing rather than increasing visibility is little comfort to our concerned communities. This inevitably has led to a lack of confidence in the police to deal with this type of menace to our Borough.

So what is the answer to this, patently not to deny the GMP essential funding to halt it’s programme of community and area focussed policing.

I know of one incident involving anti-social behaviour at a luxury apartment complex where the residents have now given up reporting any nuisance activity and disorder through the normal police line – the 872 5050 number - because they know it will be a waste of their time, as this will be another crime number logged onto the police system with little or no response. They feel the police are letting them down and feel hapless and helpless as an outcome. Although the local PCSOs are trying to intervene, residents feel they are utterly powerless to act and are not up to the task – they need the back up of frontline officers. This unfortunately fuels disconsolation and frustration at the police, funnelling down throughout the community who begin to question the service being received.

We should not be ignoring this plea to ensure that the GMP has the adequate police provision to do the job. When we need more accessibility, more opening hours, more of a presence why instead are we given from this government an inferior and inequitable settlement.

For 2007-08 the shortfall will be £1.3million, the 2008-09 figure will be a colossal £25.9million, with the 2009-10 figure provided at a little less damaging at £12.2million. A terrific three year settlement most members will agree, which will leave the GMP with a ovarall deficit of £39.4million – and government continues to preach that there is no disparity for funding in the regions – can you honestly believe this misleading statement.

The stark facts tell a different story. The GMP, the largest force outside the Met is not receiving a true formula reflecting it’s stature or it’s city region standing as the second city of this nation second only to London.

In tangible terms this loss of funding means the disappearance of 216 officers across the GMP region and this will require more than just the offsetting of the current and future budget shortcomings to replenish this personnel axing, but also an additional investment to sustain it.

Bringing the scope to Rochdale and this equates to 30 less police officers for the Rochdale Borough.

Couple this with the disbelieving reality of the non-deliverance of 410 PCSO’s across the GMP as a result of a revision made to the 2005 Labour manifesto pledge of 24,000 extra support officers reducing to 16,000 and the misery is not stemmed.

It would be wholly irresponsible of this council to say that we need not examine this issue. The government is also scandalously withholding a huge sum of potential funding through an accounting system called the ‘Damping mechanism’ which is perplexingly complicated and unjustified.

To finish, the motion is as set out and I hope that funds will be re-instated and averted to a hard working and achieving police force, our GMP; and not siphoned off to pointless police servitude on unctuous investigations such as the ‘Cash for honours’ debacle – how much is this costing our Police forces?