London and Manchester attacks highlight problems facing police
Three deadly terrorist attacks in recent months in the UK have put the spotlight on the strain on the police service. Policing cuts under the Tory government have also become a heated topic in the looming General Election, so what exactly is the situation
1. Have we really lost a lot of police officers in recent years? Yes. Since 2009 the police service has lost 21,494 officers. The 43 police forces in England and Wales along with British Transport Police employed 198,228 personnel – including officers, civilian staff and PCSOs – at the end of September 2016, the most recent Home Office figures show. It is the first time in more than a decade that the size of the total police workforce has fallen below 200,000. Of these, 122,859 were police officers, a decrease of 2.2% compared with the previous year. In September 2009 there were 144,353 officers.
The total workforce has dropped by more than 25,000 compared with a decade earlier. Furthermore, data on the ages of police staff shows that 48% of officers were aged 41 years of over, meaning that a large proportion will be nearing retirement age. 2. How many firearms officers do we currently have? There were 5,639 authorised firearms officers at the end of March 2016, which is when the latest figures are available for from the Home Office. This represents a drop of nearly a fifth (-18%) since the end of March 2009, with 1,267 fewer firearms officers since then.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said that since last year the number of firearms officers in England and Wales has increased by 640, with plans to recruit around 1,500 extra officers in total by the end of next year. The drive was launched in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, with it decided that more firearms officers were needed to be able to respond to such a marauding assault – just as happened in Borough Market on Saturday.
This should put the figure at around 7,000 by April 2018, while there are also roughly 3,500 armed officers attached to non-geographical forces – British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the National Crime Agency and the Ministry of Defence Police. When these presences are included, the total number is expected to stand at around 10,500. 3. Why are we losing so many police officers? Constabularies have seen their budgets squeezed under the Conservatives’ austerity drive. Funding to police forces reduced by £2.3bn between 2010/11 and 2015/16 – a drop of 25%. Decisions about the allocation of police resources are made by the chief constables of different forces along with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).
In January, London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that fresh funding cuts to the Metropolitan Police could undermine efforts to protect the public from terrorist attacks. He said it would become “near impossible” to maintain the number of officers on the capital’s streets if Britain’s largest police force was hit with further reductions.
The Police Federation has also long warned about the pressures on police leading them to quit. Chairman Steve White described the state of policing in England and Wales as being “in intensive care” as experienced officers leave in droves when he spoke at the federation’s annual conference last month. He said those who risk their lives and face danger on a daily basis are often “unfairly punished” for their actions, with firearms officers and police involved in pursuits particularly in fear of being “dragged through the courts” simply for doing their jobs. 4. What does the Government say about all this? The Conservatives have said that £144m is being provided over the course of the spending review for a “national uplift” in the armed policing capability. The NPCC recently confirmed that the first phase of this is complete, with an additional 41 armed response vehicles and around 650 armed officers. The next phase – an increase in counter terrorism specialist firearms officers – is expected to be carried out in 2018.
In interviews yesterday, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley refused to confirm figures on the number of armed officers when interviewed. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have protected counter-terrorism police budgets ... and we have specialist officers, more specialist officers. We are now in the process of recruiting another 1,500 armed police officers so that in two years’ time we will have the highest number of armed officers in history.”
It was put to her that the number had fallen, to which she replied: “We’ve seen reductions in police officers across the board, and that was because we had to take difficult decisions in 2010 when we came into office when as you remember there was no money.” 5. What do the other parties propose to do if they were to come to power after the election? Jeremy Corbyn has promised to recruit an additional 10,000 officers and 1,000 security service agents if the Labour party wins power. In a speech in Carlisle on Sunday, the Labour leader warned the Government it could not “protect the public on the cheap”.
The Liberal Democrats have pledged an extra £1.2bn in funding for police if they gain power.
Plaid Cymru want policing devolved to Cardiff Bay but would be willing to co-operate on UK security matters.