‘We need more than just extra officers’

18 July 2024

The new Government’s plans to recruit thousands of police officers, PCSOs and Specials have been welcomed by the chair of North Yorkshire Police Federation.

But Rob Bowles says the plans, which will put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and PCSOs on the beat, will not be enough to overcome the current crisis in policing, and called for more sustained and long-term investment in the police service.

The Government set out its pledge to take on more officers in its pre-election manifesto which also announced its aim of introducing new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, more town centre patrols and a named officer for every community and resident.

Rob, responding to Labour’s landslide General Election victory, explained: “We very much welcome plans to boost officer numbers. The Police Uplift Programme saw 20,000 new recruits joining police forces across England and Wales in the three years up to the end of March 2023.

Infrastructure

“But sadly that only took us back to the officer numbers we had at the start of the budget cuts that crippled policing during the years of austerity and yet demand, and the complexities of policing, have increased considerably.

“As we saw during the uplift, it isn’t enough to just bring in new recruits, it’s also critical that the Government invests in the infrastructure to enable them to do their job effectively - extra training facilities, police bases, cars, lockers, uniform and personal protective equipment.

“It must also ensure that they are paid fairly for the challenges and demands of their role too. In recent years, police officers have seen a 20 per cent real terms cut to their pay and the Government needs to address this as a matter of urgency since we are in the midst of an officer retention crisis.

“Linked to that is the need to reform the police pay review body, since the current mechanism – the Police Remuneration Review Body – is weighted too heavily in favour of the Government.”

Long-term investment

Rob added: “If the Government is serious about improving the police service, boosting neighbourhood policing and increasing officer numbers, it needs to commit to sustained, long-term investment and it also needs to show police officers that they are valued and respected by politicians.”

In addition to the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, Labour’s pre-election manifesto set out plans to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour with a mission to ‘take back our streets’, reducing serious violence and rebuilding public confidence in policing by getting officers back on the streets.

It pledged to introduce new penalties for offenders, get knives off the streets, set up a specialist rape unit in every police force and launch a new network of Young Futures hubs.

Funding for its manifesto pledges would come from ending private schools’ tax breaks and a Police Efficiency and Collaboration Programme, according to the manifesto.

Read the Labour manifesto.

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