Old Colwyn East Residents' Association
Shadow Minister for Wales
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr Jones
Police Funding
Thank you for your reply about our letter to the Chief Constable in relation to the loss of our CBM through under funding issues. It was redirected for reply to Superintendent Kellaher, who copied his reply to you.
You ask for our observations on that reply and I direct you to the letter which I sent to you on the 9th February, for our observations. However the situation has moved on from that point. The Police Authority has set the police precept, above the 5% required by the Assembly even though it does not have devolved powers for policing. It is however below the 8.5% required for a standstill budget.
I was at the Police Authority meeting. It was somewhat depressing itself with the Chief Constable announcing that the force reserves are below acceptable levels and need to be boosted. He also told the meeting that the Government has announced an intention from later this year under a strategic review to give the North Wales Police a three year plan for the finance of the force.
That was rather an eye opener. The police force has been required to produce a three year strategic plan which at present is 2005-2008. In it, the force sets its priorities and yet it has no concept of how much the Government is going to allow through central grant for the following year and thereafter year on year. This is an issue of fundamental concern if the purpose of the three year plan is to be a statement of how the force intends to deliver quality policing.
Quote from the current Three Year Strategic Plan.
"This plan delivers our vision for the period 2005 – 2008. It describes how we will achieve our strategic goals in response to the Government’s ‘National Policing Plan’, and the ‘Confident Communities in a Secure Britain’ Strategic Plan. Our plan focuses on the medium and longer-term direction of the force decided through extensive consultation and local demands which subsequently form our policing priorities. Our Annual Policing Plan for 2005-2006 is the one year delivery mechanism for this Three Year Strategic Plan and they have both been developed in line with each other to ensure that our quality strategic decision-making is supported by a robust financial planning process, which is crucial to a cohesive service".
Without a three year grant finance statement from the Government, this so called strategic plan is nonsense. The North Wales Force follows government ideals in neighbourhood policing involving CBMs and PCSOs and then at the first hurdle it falls. Not through lack of resolve but through a lack of money. Government has this year allegedly failed to acknowledge the true cost of inflation for the police force and with some deliberation announced cuts in funding which will not allow the Chief Constable and the Police Authority to
complete their three year strategic plan. In fact what it has done is to bring the force from
allegedly being one at the forefront nationally, to a position where it has to shed 120 + staff to make ends meet, instead of concentrating on being effective. Colwyn Bay is eight officers below strength, Central Division CID is to lose five officers. Good on paper but no police officers on the ground, and everyone knows about it.
The Government has done this by changing the concept of neighbourhood policing by apparently changing the role of PCSOs to be the forefront of neighbourhood policing together with community volunteers, CBMs will be fewer and have bigger areas. The new priority is "Protective Services". There is to be no new money from the Government for protective services, they have cut up to half a million pounds from the budget for policing Holyhead Port.
North Wales Police is not now delivering locally in Neighbourhood Policing terms or in Response Policing terms. It is meeting its emergency level policing goals but that is not the whole story for Response. The force has shed a huge slice of 120 support staff to balance the books to cover deficits for which the Government must share responsibility because it did not give a clear statement of how much the funding there would be year on year to give underpinning and financial security for decision making. There is much uncertainty about next year.
The Chief Constable is preparing to reveal his strategy on 19th of March for the 2007/8 year funded by the Police Authority precept decision of 6.75%. This plan will be delivered using a new batch of 99 PCSOs without any knowledge about funding for 2008/ 2009. Will Government funding continue in 2008/9 for the 157 PCSOs or not? Year to year policing, what way is that to run a police force? The Chief Constable warns of more cuts in prospect.
On behalf of our residents, who are caught up in the middle of this policing mayhem, I ask what way is this for a government to show that it is committed to policing. It is a recipe for disaster. It shows a Government committed to passing on the cost of local policing to the local taxpayer (38%+ locally). Worse than that, when the Police Force is struggling to live up to its strategic plans (which are known by the Home Office on behalf of the Government) by raising local taxes via the precept, the threat of capping threatens to bring the whole process to its knees. The whole process is apparently a sham. Big talk from government but not delivered on the ground through a lack of budgetary stability which is shameful.
As an association, we are not blindly agreeing with everything that North Wales Police does. You must however consider that Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has given the force the green light for its procedures. The Independent Auditor has praised the force for its financial plans and procedures. The Chief Constable was congratulated at the precept meeting for his extension of contract until 2009, so we can assume that he enjoys the support of the Home Office for his plans.
The Government cannot have it both ways and enjoy credibility. It either supports policing and thereby the public with sufficient funding for the service proposed in the Strategic Plan, or it does not. In the latter case we are in a scenario where the Government is causing a massive shift of policing strategy in North Wales through funding shortfall. At the same time it is demanding a movement in "protective services". This is also unfunded.
I have said in my previous letter, this government is now far from being tough on crime in North Wales. It is, through funding shortfall determining the future of policing in North Wales which will lead to the Government being seen at this rate, as a cause of crime in the near future. That future is bleak with a lack of officers at the sharp end. The officers are being taken from patrol to cover posts previously done by Support Staff who have been dismissed through under funding to "balance the books".
If this proposition is untrue, then the management of North Wales Police is misleading the public and should not enjoy the good reviews that it is enjoying from the Home Office.
Please bring our views to the attention of the Minister for Policing and ask him to answer our charges specifically.
Yours sincerely
David Curtis
Secretary
Old Colwyn East Residents' Association
Member for Clwyd West
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA
Police Funding in North Wales
You will recall that I wrote to you on 10th February regarding a decision by the North Wales Police to redeploy the Old Colwyn CBM. She was one of 24 officers taken from Divisions to Control Room duties because 120 support staff were given voluntary severance, allegedly because of a net reduction in grant funding from Government.
The situation has moved on; the Police Authority has set the police precept, it is below the 8.5% required for a standstill budget; further cuts are to be made.
I was at the Police Authority meeting. It was somewhat depressing with the Chief Constable announcing that the force reserves are below acceptable levels. He also told the meeting that the Government has announced an intention from later this year under a strategic review to give the North Wales Police a three year plan for the finance of the force.
That was rather an eye opener. The police force has been required to produce a three year strategic plan which at present is 2005-2008. In it, the force sets its priorities and yet it has no concept of how much money the Government is going to allow for the following year and thereafter year on year. This is an issue of fundamental concern if the purpose of the three year plan is to be a statement of how the force intends to deliver quality policing.
Quote from the current Three Year Strategic Plan.
"This plan delivers our vision for the period 2005 – 2008. It describes how we will achieve our strategic goals in response to the Government’s ‘National Policing Plan’, and the ‘Confident Communities in a Secure Britain’ Strategic Plan. Our plan focuses on the medium and longer-term direction of the force decided through extensive consultation and local demands which subsequently form our policing priorities. Our Annual Policing Plan for 2005-2006 is the one year delivery mechanism for this Three Year Strategic Plan and they have both been developed in line with each other to ensure that our quality strategic decision-making is supported by a robust financial planning process, which is crucial to a cohesive service".
Without a three year grant finance statement from the Government, this strategic plan is nonsense. The North Wales Police follows government ideals in neighbourhood policing and then at the first hurdle it falls. Not through lack of resolve but through a lack of money. Government has this year allegedly failed to acknowledge the true cost of inflation for the police force and announced effectively what amounts to cuts in funding which will not allow the Chief Constable and the Police Authority to complete their three year strategic plan. In fact it has brought the force from allegedly being one at the forefront nationally, to a position where it has to shed the 120 + staff to make ends meet, instead of concentrating on being effective. Colwyn Bay is eight officers below strength; Central Division CID is to lose five officers. Statistically the force may be doing well but there are few police officers on the ground, and everyone knows about it.
The Government has done this by switching its focus from Neighbourhood Policing to the new priority "Protective Services". There is to be no new money from the Government for these services, it has cut up to half a million pounds from the budget for the policing of Holyhead Port. PCSOs are seen to be at the forefront of neighbourhood policing, together with community volunteers, CBMs will be fewer and have bigger areas.
North Wales Police is not delivering locally in Neighbourhood Policing terms or in Response Policing terms. I have previously outlined in this letter the shortages of officers in Colwyn alone. The force is meeting its emergency level policing goals (19 minutes for immediate response) but that is not the whole story for Response policing. The force has shed a huge slice of support staff to balance the books to cover deficits. The Government must share responsibility for this deficit because it did not give a clear statement of how much the funding there would be year on year to give underpinning and financial security for decision making. There is much uncertainty again about next year.
The Chief Constable is preparing to reveal his strategy on 19th of March for the 2007/8 year funded by the Police Authority precept decision of 6.75%. This plan will be delivered using a new batch of 99 PCSOs without any knowledge about funding for 2008/ 2009. Will Government funding continue in 2008/9 for the 157 PCSOs or not? Year to year policing, what way is that to run a police force? The Chief Constable warns of more cuts in prospect.
On behalf of our residents, who are caught up in the middle of this policing mayhem, I ask what way is this for the Labour government to show that it is committed to policing, “tough on Crime, tough on the causes of crime”. It is a recipe for disaster. It demonstrates a Government committed to passing on the cost of local policing to the local taxpayer (38%+ locally). Worse than that, when the Police Authority is struggling to live up to its strategic plan by raising local taxes via the precept (the only other option), the threat of capping brought the whole process to its knees. The whole process is apparently a sham; big talk from government but not delivering on the ground through a lack of budgetary provision and stability.
As an association, we do not agree with everything that North Wales Police does; we must however consider that Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has given the force the green light for its procedures. The Independent Auditor has praised the force for its financial plans and procedures. The Chief Constable was congratulated at the precept meeting for his extension of contract until 2009, so we can assume that he enjoys the support of the Home Office for his plans. Peter Hain the Welsh Minster speaks in glowing terms about the force.
The Government cannot have it both ways and enjoy credibility. It either supports policing and thereby the public with sufficient funding for the service proposed in the 3 year Strategic Plan or it does not. In the latter case we are in a scenario where the Government is causing a massive shift of policing strategy in North Wales through funding shortfall whilst at the same time it is demanding a movement in unfunded "protective services".
The future is bleak with a lack of officers on patrol. The officers are being taken from patrol to cover posts previously done by Support Staff who have been severed because of under funding, to balance the books.
If this proposition is untrue, then the management of North Wales Police is misleading the public and should not have the good reviews that it is enjoying from the Home Office.
Please tell us how you can show that policing at grass roots level, where it affects people in towns and villages, is a priority for the Labour Government both at Westminster and Cardiff. The current round of announcements from the Government claiming advances in the war on crime do not sit well with the reality on the ground.
In North Wales the Council Tax payer is paying 38%+ of the policing budget directly. They are also contributing to the remainder of the policing budget through income and other taxes. The public should be able to expect relative peace on the streets or if not, there should be effective policing to deal with the problems.
The Government appetite for statistics has produced a police force that produces statistics. There is a data production department within the force; however data does not prevent gangs of youths from intimidating residents around villages and towns in North Wales.
When there is no police officer on duty locally who can respond to such problems because of prioritisation and lack of staff, people inevitably feel let down. It does not help for the Chief Constable to say that North Wales Police is judged as better than other forces in Wales and within its “family of forces”. The public are the best judge of Government and Police working as a partnership to supply services and they will make that judgement.
Please circulate our views in The Assembly and please do your best to bring them to the attention of Mr McNulty, the Minister for Policing and Mr Hain, Secretary of State for Wales. We ask for specific answers about the points we have raised. Policing has to be reliable and consistent not subject to knee jerk reaction of Government and Home Office, especially in funding terms.
Yours sincerely
David Curtis
Secretary
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From ~ Kelvin Dent,
Date ~13 February 2007 09:16
Subject Letter to David Jones MP
Dear Mr Curtis,
Thank you for writing to your local MP about the funding of North Wales Police and for sending me a copy.
Kelvin
Kelvin Dent
Clerc yr Awdurdod/Clerk to the Authority
Awdurdod Heddlu Gogledd Cymru/North Wales Police Authority
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