Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 9 June 2008.
What proposals she has to give local communities more information on local policing resources and performance.
We made an explicit commitment in the recently published crime strategy to make crime data available on a monthly and consistent basis to the public at a level and in a context that makes sense to them locally. We think that keeping people informed of what is being done to deal with crime in their area and telling them about progress plays a very important role in making them feel safer. That is why we hope that from July this year monthly crime information will be made available to everyone.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In Salford, levels of concern about antisocial behaviour have fallen from 48 per cent. three years ago to 30 per cent. That is really good progress, but it means that a lot of people are still concerned about antisocial behaviour. Does he agree that we should let communities influence the priorities of their neighbourhood policing teams so that they know that those teams are working on their key areas of concern?
I most certainly do. The provision of local crime information, plus the implementation of neighbourhood policing, plus neighbourhood police teams interfacing directly with their public to establish those priorities, plus, eventually, local councils also having a role in the form of neighbourhood management working alongside neighbourhood policing, has proved a very effective and powerful resolution to many of the concerns that local communities have. We have seen throughout the country how communities have in effect won back their streets and public spaces from those who would do nothing but harm in those areas.
The Minister talks about keeping people informed. Does he therefore share my concern that the Metropolitan police are drawing up proposals to reduce the number of police officers by as many as 2,000 over the next few years in response to budgetary pressures? Surely that information on future police numbers is the sort of information that my constituents and many others in London need to know.
Tempted as I am to traduce the record of the ex-hon. Member for Henley when he has barely got his feet under the table, I know of no such plans by the Metropolitan police. Indeed, the last plans and budgets that I saw were intended to do quite the opposite, particularly at the interface between counter-terrorism and policing, in increasing and improving police numbers. As far as I am aware, there are no plans to row back from the implementation, on a ward-by-ward basis, of safer neighbourhood teams. I think that to his rather pleasant surprise, the Mayor of London—I hope that this is not insulting him either—has found that there is an enormous amount of common ground between what this Government are seeking to do in London in working with the Metropolitan police and his own agenda for London. Where that common ground is in the interests of London, we will not be found wanting in working with the new Mayor.