Government shifts policing responsibility to Councils

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Government shifts policing responsibility to Councils

Jon Cruddas MP for Dagenham and Rainham has slammed Ministers for their latest approach to the violent crime crisis which is set to shift the responsibility for funding police resources to local government. The Treasury and the Home Office have agreed to double the amount that councils can add to council tax bills to pay for policing from £1 per month to £2 per month.

Jon Cruddas MP said: "the government are passing the buck on this and creating a postcode lottery which will hit people in more disadvantaged areas hardest. This could either go one of two ways with areas more vulnerable to violent crime getting less resources than richer areas, or with already struggling families being pushed closer to the breadline to keep their communities safe. Both options are unacceptable and after millions in cuts it is about time the government put money back into frontline policing."

Historically most police funding in England and Wales has been provided directly by Westminster and about 30% comes from council tax precepts. A spokesman from the Mayor's Office, after news of the plan emerged, accused the government of placing the burden for finding the extra money disproportionately on poorer households, rather than the central government providing more funds.

Stephen Doughty, a Labour MP on the parliamentary home affairs committee, said the increase is "nowhere near what our police need to deal with increase in demand," while London mayor Sadiq Khan said the extra funds "represent a tiny fraction of the huge cuts to the police service made by this government since 2010."

This is set to affect everyone as Sadiq Khan said "[t]he causes of violent crime are extremely complex, but there is no doubt it has been made far worse by huge government cuts to the police and youth services."

Jon Cruddas recently launched a campaign #CallingTimeOnCrime which is calling on the government to step up and give our police the support they need to effectively tackle rising violent crime.

Jon will be taking a petition to Downing Street and the Home Office in the New Year. If you haven't signed already sign here: https://joncruddas.org.uk/calling-time-crime-petition