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Still, could be worse, We could have Truss and Kwarteng back

The Chief Constable of Essex Police has told the BBC he will have to make difficult decisions if the force continues to be "unfairly funded".
Ben-Julian Harrington said financial pressure was making it harder for him to retain officers and "keep Essex safe".
The force's £363.7m budget, external is £40m below what Merseyside Police is granted, despite covering an area that is five times greater in size.
A Home Office spokeswoman said the police funding settlement would provide Essex Police with £406.2m over the next year.
She added the force would receive an additional £3.7m to cover the latest police pay award.
Police federations claim the government has not acknowledged the "acute resource crunch" faced by forces, external.
Mr Harrington said he could not rule out making redundancies among office-based staff at Essex Police if the force was not given a "fairer deal".
He stressed rejecting new officers due to not being able to pay them was a last resort, but that wages took up 80% of the force's budget.
Ben-Julian Harrington wearing a black policing uniform and hat with a line of medals pinned to his chest. He is speaking behind a lectern which has a large microphone on it. People watch on behind him.
IMAGE SOURCE, ESSEX POLICE
Image caption,
Mr Harrington says he is annoyed and frustrated about officers having to leave policing for financial reasons
"The reality is if I don't have enough money then I can't do all the things I'd want to do," said the police chief, who took up the post in 2018.
"It means we're going to have to make difficult choices about what we do.
"It will put pressure on our staff, our officers who work incredibly hard already."
Essex Police has about 3,800 officers - its highest total since 2010 - making it one of the largest forces per head in England outside of London.
Figures show other than Wiltshire Police, it is the lowest funded force nationally in terms of funding granted per resident.
A spokesman for the force added the cost of maintaining its estate increased by between £4m and £5m in recent years.
'Annoying and frustrating'
Asked how he defined a fairer deal for Essex, Mr Harrington said: "We're not fairly funded in comparison to other parts of the country, it's as simple as that.
"It's important to recognise the 1.9 million residents that live here, the diversity of challenges and to reward the good work this force has done."

I have no time for either of them, but have a feeling the UK is going to hit really difficult times ahead. Government borrowing costs are up and we are having to borrow more, government departments may have to live within current budgets so a squeeze on spending in the wider economy and reduced public services. The issue is not always the level of taxes that you raise but what you actually spend it on, does it improve productivity, enhance our infrastructure, deliver better value services and so on.

Couldn't agree more. The Police Force has been absolutely decimated by the Tories over the last 14 years. Hopefully Labour will invest properly and bring them back up to levels needed to provide a proper service and protect those on the front line.

Unison figures:

In September 2010, the police workforce in England and Wales had 243,143 officers and staff. After four years of austerity, in September 2016, this number had shrunk by nearly 45,000.

Over the same period, police community officer (PCSO) numbers were cut from 16,376 to 10,551 – a decline of 36%.

In the year ending June 2016, the Office for National Statistics figures for police-recorded crime in England and Wales over the previous 12 months showed public order offences up 28%, violence against the person offences up 24%, sexual offences up 14%, knife crime up 9% and firearms offences up by 7%.

Police cuts had consequences and they were being felt in communities across the UK.

By 2019, rising crime had left the Conservative Party’s reputation as ‘the party of law and order’ in tatters. It promised to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales when everyone knew it was really just replacing those it had cut over the previous nine years.

Nothing was done to stem the cuts to PCSO numbers which continued to fall to 7,651 in September 2023 – an overall reduction of 53% since 2010.

Police staff numbers remain 2,000 below their 2010 levels with police officers regularly having to backfill police staff roles.

An analysis of police financial forecasts by UNISON in 2023 revealed forces in England and Wales could face a combined budget shortfall of £720m by 2026, putting public safety at risk as forces cut back on some services.

The issue is not absolute Police numbers, its also the infrastructure and support mechanisms that help detect and prevent crime. Policing has evolved or has to evolve, in response to eg the sophistication of crimes eg internet scams and the associated personal losses involved, doesn't require a Policeman on the beat.

You can use statistics to prove whatever you want, but staffing numbers alone are not the wider debate, the real issue is how you have an effective Policing service, properly financed and equipped with the required infrastructure and skills base necessary. Whilst a Policeman on the beat may give public reassurance, it may not be the best method to deter or prevent crime in today's society.


I question many crime stats as often there is no history of previous similar (criminal) activity until it is made a crime and recorded as such. The instances of it probably haven't changed, just the emphasis society places on it. For example the wider use of camera's in town centres, has probably allowed more crimes to be recorded. which may not have been detected by a Policeman on the beat. So the stats go up but in reality nothing has really changed, just the way how often it is detected/Policed. some town centres were always dangerous at night since I was a lad and best avoided........

I think you and I live in very very different worlds, and I'm actually quite grateful for that.

And on that note, I'm out. I've broken my 'stick to cars' rule again and will take myself outside for a good slapping.

I think the bottom line to all of this is that most voters have simple needs.

Be able to see a doctor within 48 hours

Be able to summon an ambulance within 30 minutes

Be able to summon a policeman when the situation demands it

Be able to keep warm in winter

To have reasonable council tax charges

Anything else?

The public services have evolved massively since I were a lad into giant employers of people who don't seem to do much. There are too many managers in most places and nothing ever gets done to upset the status quo.

Why do we need "Mayors"? Look at the mess London is in. Too many overpaid dolittles in nice warm offices. I'll stop there.

Absolutely on the button............

I think we live in the same world, but have different approach to how we best serve society. In fact you may not believe it, I think we have a similar outlook on many things eg need for social housing, minimum wages, free education and so on. My training and career has been very diverse, I've been fortunate enough to have worked in commerce, industry and the public sector and see the relative strengths and weakness of each sector, not just in the UK but spent years working abroad experiencing other countries approach to the same issues we share, have in common.

Its always useful to participate in debate just expect sometimes different view points to be expressed .there is more than one way of skinning a cat and one can learn from other peoples life experiences......there is no one right answer.

From experience I've seen changes in Policing in my local town, rarely now do we see beat officers, the local stations have all been closed, resources have been centred on higher risk locations. Upto 3 or 4 years ago we would have a helicopter circling around often late at night trying to track criminals down. That's all changed, now we have far more cameras in the park, around the town centre (removing the need for expensive helicopters who can only be in one place at a time). Street lighting has been improved, there is greater co-ordination thru community policing meetings dealing with issues of local residents. Developing Policing priorities and targeted Policing. maximising the efficiency of finite resources and addressing local concerns.

There again I live in a relatively quiet community, it still has some serious drug issues etc., but nothing compared to some inner city areas and their levels of violence etc . The approach to inner cities has to be very different, in the same way Blackpool just down the road has immense Policing issues created by social depravation, a weekend party stag and hen do destination with massive anti social behaviour after pub and club closing times, requiring heavy Police presence over the weekend. The Policing approach where I live probably wouldn't work as well in Blackpool, its a different series of problems and higher incidence of occurrence, so more officers have been based in Blackpool reducing resources locally. I could complain about the lack of evidence of policing locally because there is no-one pounding the beat, but that would be disingenuous, it's no less safe than when there were local Police stations open.