Police Funding: London — [James Gray in the Chair]

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 9:40 am on 25 October 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Bob Blackman Bob Blackman Conservative, Harrow East 9:40, 25 October 2017

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I congratulate Catherine West on securing this important debate on the future funding of policing in London.

I will start by talking about the situation in the borough of Harrow, which my honourable neighbour, Gareth Thomas, and I share. Back in 2014, Harrow became the safest borough in London, with crime at its lowest level ever. There were still challenges, the key one being that, despite having the lowest level of crime in London, we had one of the highest levels of fear of crime in London. Because crime in the borough was so low, every crime—particularly every violent crime—was on the front pages of our local newspapers, so of course everyone feared that they would either be burgled or mugged on the streets. Dealing with the fear of crime is fundamental.

The hon. Lady forgot one issue in her speech: that the Mayor of London is responsible for policing in London. He is effectively the police and crime commissioner for London, and he must bear responsibility every bit as much—at least—as the Government when it comes to decisions on policing in London.