House of Commons (Westminster Hall) - Greater Manchester Police

23 January 2007

Leech, Stunell, Rowen and Hunter criticise the government’s under-funding of Greater Manchester Police Force.

John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington

John Leech said: “The Liberal Democrats in Greater Manchester have been fighting the case for our underfunded police force and I draw hon. Members’ attention to the early-day motion in my name, and the names of my hon. Friends and other hon. Members, which highlights the projected shortfall and calls on the Government to stop financially penalising Manchester to the tune of £14 million this year and £35 million in total.”

“My early-day motion states:

“That this House is concerned that the Greater Manchester Police Authority Independent Chairman has confirmed that Greater Manchester faces a projected budget shortfall of £1.3 million for 2007-08, of £25.9 million for 2008-09 and of £12.2 million for 2009-10; notes that Greater Manchester Police has already made reductions of more than 200 police officers in 2006-07 and that further cuts may be necessary in the future unless more resources are made available from Government; further notes with concern that it is estimated that £35 million of funding has been withheld by the Government as part of its ‘damping mechanism', despite payment being fully justified on the Home Office's objective needs basis; and therefore calls on the Government to put an end to this inequity and provide the necessary funds to police the streets of Greater Manchester properly.””

“I urge hon. Members from Greater Manchester on all sides of the political divide to support that early-day motion and reject the amendment in the name of the hon. Member for Stockport (Ann Coffey).”

He continued; “It is time for the Home Office to accept that Manchester is getting a raw deal. It is not acceptable for the Minister to hide behind increases since 1997 to justify cuts now. In the information pack put together by the Library, a Home Office spokesperson suggests that forces should be able to make efficiency savings. The hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) made the point that they have been making efficiency savings over a long period and there comes a time when they cannot do any more. I do not regard losing more than 200 police officers this year as efficiency savings. I see it as cuts and I am sure that a number of hon. Members will too."

"The spokesman went on to say that if police forces feel that they need additional funding they should contact the Home Office. That is what we are doing: we are contacting the Home Office and asking the Minister to give Greater Manchester a fair deal. I hope that the Department will reconsider the funding given to Greater Manchester police to avoid further cuts in the future.”

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Andrew Stunell, Lib Dem MP for Hazel Grove

Mr Stunell said; “Whatever benchmark might be set, the benchmark my constituents expect is a reasonably visible police presence in the area, and they would point out that there is a significant level of antisocial behaviour and low-level crime that no longer even gets reported because of that lack of a visible police presence."

"The story of Greater Manchester police is that during the past year it has been gradually recovering from significant cutbacks that took place before 1997. I remind the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West that they happened during a period of Conservative Government, when police numbers in Greater Manchester went down. Things did not get better immediately after the 1997 general election, and for three years there was a financial freeze that meant practically no progress was made on many services. The fall in police numbers also continued.”

He continued; “Fortunately, my constituents do not live in an area where gun crime is a big problem. On the whole, we do not have serious organised crime. What damages the quality of life of my constituents is low-level crime and antisocial behaviour. What enrages them is when they cannot get through on the police telephone number or, if they do get through, when they get no response. Even when my constituents get a response, they are treated not exactly casually, but not as a major priority. Of course the police force has to concentrate on the major priorities, but those are all signs of a force that is not addressing the things that are so important for my constituents. I hope that the Minister will assure us that the police will have the resources they need to deliver the service that my constituents want.”

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Paul Rowen, Lib Dem MP for Rochdale

Mr Rowen said; “I do not want members of the Labour party to claim that we say that everything that has happened in the past few years has been bad. That is not the case. We are doing what the Government have enabled us to do when they rightly gave councils and other statutory bodies the three-year funding formula. That was supposed to enable authorities to plan ahead and to ensure that there are no sudden changes from year to year. However, at our meeting with the independent chair just before Christmas, it was found that over the three-year period Greater Manchester would be £26 million short of what it needed to deliver the services. That set alarm bells ringing, given that we had already had a tight situation over the previous 12 months. What I call the thin blue line is being stretched.
The improvements that we have seen have been hard-fought for over the last few years. My hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell) said that councils agreed four years ago to a 36 per cent. increase in the precept to enable new officers to take up post, but their numbers are now dropping back. The current chief constable of Greater Manchester has done a fantastic job in shaping and setting the priorities for the force, but those aspirations about having enough police on the beat in order to deliver a community policing model are now seriously at risk. It is not the serious crime?the murders and the robberies?that suffers. As my hon. Friend said, it is the sort of low-level crime that people increasingly do not bother to report.”

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Mark Hunter, Lib Dem MP for Cheadle

Mr Hunter said; “Let me start by making it clear, as several hon. Members have sought to do already, that the purpose of the debate is certainly not to be critical of the Greater Manchester police authority, Greater Manchester police, their chief constable or anybody else involved in trying to do the job on the ground. On the contrary, I should like to compliment the police authority on the open way in which it has gone about ensuring that all Members in the Greater Manchester conurbation are precisely aware of the problems that it faces. The chairman, in particular, is to be given credit for inviting Members in just before Christmas to hear what the problems were. Put simply, the issue is that Greater Manchester police face a funding crisis, and that is what today’s debate is intended to deal with. As the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West said, this is precisely the time when we should be applying pressure to ensure that the Government understand Greater Manchester’s needs and, I hope, why we feel hard done by in comparison with other areas.”

He continued; “People do not believe that there is an adequate police presence any longer. People say to me, “Mark, it’s getting more and more like the fire brigade. The police will come out if you ring 999, but you never see them on beat patrol.” I say again that I do not blame Greater Manchester police for that. I do not say that the Stockport borough commander has got his priorities wrong or anything like that. I simply say that the police are doing the best they can with insufficient resources.”

"I hope that the Minister will address our concerns seriously. The early-day motion that was referred to and today’s debate are part of our genuine efforts to focus attention on the concerns, which I am sure are shared by all Greater Manchester Members. It is perhaps slightly disappointing that that is not reflected in their attendance today, with one or two honourable exceptions, but the concerns are widespread and genuine and I hope that the Minister will address them in the spirit in which we have raised them, which is that we all want to work together to bring crime levels down and to help people to feel safe in their communities again. The issue is not only that we are far, far away from that situation at the moment. Given the funding crisis that is outlined in the report from the police authority, which we have heard so much about already today, the great danger is that the problem, unless it is tackled by the Government, will continue to get worse, rather than get better. That would be unacceptable to all our constituents."

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Applicability: this item refers to England and Wales. Due to devolution, detailed policy may be different in other areas of the UK.