Local MP accused of “utter contempt” as Tory and Lib Dem record on policing exposed by new report

Local MP accused of “utter contempt” as Tory and Lib Dem record on policing exposed by new report

A hard-hitting report by the National Audit Office concerning police cuts exposes the true extent of Tory and Lib Dem mismanagement of police and crime issues says Southport’s Labour candidate, Liz Savage.

The NAO report reveals that from 2010 on over 44,000 police and staff were cut by both parties during their time in power but that government has been unaware of the full impact of the losses. Real terms funding to Police and Crime Commissioners had plummetted by nearly a fifth at 19 per cent.

The NAO explained:

“The Home Office lacks a long-term plan for policing and significant gaps remain in its understanding of demand for police services and their costs… (its) light-touch approach to overseeing police forces means it does not know if the police system is financially sustainable.

The way the department chooses to distribute funding has been ineffective and detached from the changing nature of policing for too long, and it cannot be sure overall funding is being directed to the right places.”

Responding to the report, Liz Savage attacked the way both the Tories and Lib Dems had implemented their cuts without any seeming understanding of the costs of their actions:

” The report makes clear that government has not known the implications for policing but our communities certainly do. They see officers are severely overstretched, they see crime on the rise. For many people, Southport does not feel as safe as it once did while across Merseyside violent crime has surged 21%.

The Tories always said our police force had enough funding but today we’ve discovered that they have been relying on guesswork. The Lib Dems went along with this, much like they did with the hostile environment that resulted in the Windrush scandal.

Ministers still haven’t got a clue whether or not forces are financially sustainable, if they are meeting their demands effectively or what the risk is to the public. They’ve effectively been making it up all along. Southport’s Tory MP has supported them in this and has voted for the cuts.

The report exposes the utter contempt he and the Government have shown for the safety and security of local residents and the public across the country.”