Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Last-chance bid to save Hillingdon police station
PETITION HANDED TO LONDON MAYOR TO STOP HQ BEING PUT UP FOR SALE
THE saga of Uxbridge’s police station’s sale continues as a new petition has been handed to the Mayor in a last-ditch attempt to keep it open.
Victims of crime, police officers and concerned residents have acted in a bid to protect the station’s future.
Sadiq Khan had earmarked the police station, along the majority of Metropolitan Police’s wider estate for sale from 2017, when he was forced to make cuts to deal with less funding from central government.
But Uxbridge residents have cited their local MP and current Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to bring 20,000 police officers back across the country as a signal that the sale of the building would hamstring the extra officers.
The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime has also rejected two offers by Hillingdon Council to “buy” the police station and lease it back for a subsidised fee for a number of years before charging them rent. The offers have been rejected for not fitting into the Met’s Estate Strategy.
Since 2010, Metropolitan Police funding from the government fell by £1.1 billion, forcing major changes to fund the shortfall.
The former Scotland Yard building in St James Park was sold to property developers as the Met relocated to smaller premises.
In 2011, the Met Police estate was spread across 650 buildings but according to their business plan, there will be just 145 by 2022. Police officer numbers were at an all-time high of 32,000 in 2011 but have fallen to around 30,000.
The Estates Strategy is forecast to bring in £645 million.
However the North Uxbridge Resident’s Association’s latest petition has 1,352 signatories including police officers and people who work for agencies partnering police who are pleading for the station to remain open.
Uxbridge police station, which had a public frontdesk, custody suites and offices, must remain open to shield from a “loss of protection” to the residents of Uxbridge, the petitioners warned.
Among the signatories are victims of crimes and those who fear particular local issues including knife crime and the mugging of smartphones from children and young people.
Hillingdon Council has submitted two formal bids to purchase the police station in Warwick Place at the end of the High Street, opposite Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.
The offer of a £5 million sale of the building and free costs and leasing for one per cent of the sale price per year, They also offered £250,000 in costs for five years.
But MOPAC told MyLondon when the last offer was made in September, that “the council’s contribution would end in 2023, passing all future costs and risk beyond that date to MOPAC, which is not sustainable as a result of uncertainty of the Government’s ongoing police funding.” “MOPAC and the Met are undertaking a review of the Met’s entire estate to look at the long-term plans for police stations and the potential impact from an increase in officer numbers,” the spokeswoman added.
“But we are yet to learn how many officers London will get as part of the Government’s pledge to fund 20,000 additional officers, and we’re clear that ministers must speed up their role in tackling violent crime – confirming how many more officers it will give the capital so we can keep Londoners safe.”
MOPAC thanked the council for its offer but said it would “keep the offer for further consideration” while admitting that keeping the station open would have “minimum operational benefit”.
In a recent Freedom of Information request, MOPAC responded “the proposition was significantly cost-prohibitive due to the substantially higher revenue and capital costs required after five years; this higher cost was also set against minimal operational benefits.”
The station continues to be earmarked for sale in the financial year 2020-2021, while services have moved to Hayes End police station in Uxbridge Road, which remains the only open front-counter in Hillingdon.
Metropolitan Police now share services and resources across multiple boroughs as part of their cost saving and efficiency measures. Hillingon is partnered with Ealing and Hounslow, forming the West Area Command Unit.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “A review of the Met’s entire estate is underway, taking into account the potential impact from an increase in officer numbers and associated costs.
“After careful consideration, a decision was made to decline Hillingdon council’s proposal to buy Uxbridge Police Station, in order to protect frontline police officers. The council’s contribution would end in 2023, passing all future costs and risk beyond that date to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and
Crime, which is not sustainable.
“While national funding for additional officers is welcomed, this is only a very partial reversal of the huge Government cuts and there still remains a lack of clarity from ministers on how many officers will be funded after this initial uplift. This delay and lack of clarity is preventing the Mayor from planning effectively and making the best use of the Met’s estate to support these additional officers.”
A decision was made to decline [the] proposal to buy Uxbridge police station