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Mr. Straw: Let me reassure the hon. Gentleman. I made it quite clear in my opening remarks that we intend to replicate, so far as possible, the tripartite arrangements that exist in the provinces for the government of police. The difference will be to take account of the Met's national and capital policing functions, which will involve continuing involvement by the Home Secretary. I should make it clear that we have no plans whatever to provide for the mayor or any police authority--including myself--to have operational control of the police. That is a matter for the chief officers of police.
Dr. Cable: I thank the Home Secretary. Many police officers, as well as members of the public, will be reassured by that clarification.
Mr. Keith Darvill (Upminster): On behalf of my constituents, I endorse the remarks of other hon. Members. We all benefit from the commitment of police officers to serve our areas.
On partnerships, the police recognise that they cannot succeed alone. Indeed, it is my submission that we did not expect them to do so. The word "partnerships" seems to be in vogue at the moment, with people referring to them in all sorts of areas. From my experience, since being elected to the House, it is a matter to which we should devote as much time as possible, as there are benefits to be had all around.
There is a need for local authorities, schools, youth outreach workers and the police to combine to solve youth crime. Only last week in my constituency, a member of the public who had acted as a witness in a particularly difficult crime was attacked by youths as a result. On one occasion--a Wednesday evening--while the police were in my constituent's house, the police car was attacked. The next evening, before the police arrived, youths in the area stoned all the windows of the house, and the young children living in it had to be taken elsewhere to other relations. That illustrates the need for strong policing.
The problem that we have in Upminster, which forms part of the Havering division, is that, over the years, resources for policing the area have been reduced. It is assumed to be a leafy suburb that does not need the same level of policing as other areas--indeed, the figures show a continual reduction in the number of police officers for that area--but we do have black spots, and in those areas police station opening hours have been reduced, as have police numbers. That not only lessens the deterrent effect but gives rise to a fear of crime in the area. Therefore, we should look at this matter much more carefully. With a good working relationship with local authorities, youth outreach workers and schools, some of these problems can be solved. For that reason, the proposals in the crime and disorder Bill will be welcome.
Opposition Members criticised Labour councillors and, indeed, Labour Members of Parliament. My perception is that there is a need for local public involvement, and that proposal comes from the public. It is not something that Labour councillors or Labour Members dreamed up. Of course, the public look to their representatives for a resolution of the problems that are associated with crime. In other words, they want their councillors and Members to be involved. Community orders will act as a conduit.
The criticism that has been directed at Labour Members is unfair. The suggestion that Labour Members merely smile and do not present their constituents' problems to the Home Secretary is wrong. Of course we make representations to the Home Secretary. Such criticism is unjust.
There are good examples throughout the country of partnerships working with the retail sector of business. In my constituency, however, many of the smaller business retailers feel that they cannot join these partnerships as we in this place might expect they would. One of the problems lies with the change in taxation which occurred some years ago with the introduction of the uniform business rate. That is not especially relevant to the debate, but it reflects the attitude of some retailers. I accept that there is not a direct link.
Mr. John Randall (Uxbridge):
I intervene as very much a part-time retailer. In the London borough of
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst):
Order. I recommend that the hon. Member for Upminster (Mr. Darvill) deals with one intervention before he runs into another.
Mr. Darvill:
I am sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
The experience of the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall) is different from mine in some parts of my constituency. The police consulted and representations were made to me as the constituency Member. Representations were made also to the local authority. There are different enthusiasms, but the thrust of the argument is that local authorities and central Government should be encouraging partnerships.
The local business community in my constituency found that, with the introduction of the UBR, they had not developed links with the chamber of commerce or the local authority. That is something at which we need to work.
I read some of the information that has been provided by the Library on funding. Since 1979, the proportion of funding in London, compared with the rest of the country, has fallen, fluctuating between 26 and 30 per cent. This year's figure is 25.5 per cent., so the amount that the Metropolitan police area receives as a proportion of that received by the whole country has fallen. That puts pressure on outer-London areas, thus creating difficulties.
Mr. McDonnell:
I apologise to my hon. Friend for intervening so abruptly earlier. While on the subject of resources for the police, we should also consider the availability of resources for local authorities to install closed circuit television. As the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall) said, the issue for Hillingdon was that, having had an horrendous revenue support grant settlement from the previous Government, the council had to prioritise its investment in CCTV. That is an investment in the protection of life and limb, particularly of those families enduring racial attack and harassment. In that context, a council may want to put the onus for retail protection on the retailer. I am sure that my hon. Friend would agree that it is a matter of priorities, and socialism is the language of priorities.
Mr. Darvill:
I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks. I was about to make that point. There is a problem not only with funding for the Metropolitan police but with particularly bad local authority resourcing through the standard spending assessment. Local authorities find it
Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet):
I am glad to be called in this annual debate on the policing of London. I am particularly pleased to follow the hon. Member for Upminster (Mr. Darvill), and to congratulate him on his thoughtful contribution, although I do not exactly agree with him and with his interpretation of certain statistics.
I am disappointed that the number of Metropolitan police officers has declined slightly in the past year, but that should be put in context. We should recall that, 18 years ago, there were fewer than 22,000 Metropolitan police officers, whereas today there are well over 27,000, which is an increase of about 20 per cent. Overall, the previous Government held good to their commitment: they increased significantly the number of police officers.
The budget rose dramatically. I was interested to hear the comparison given by the hon. Member for Upminster. He will know that the budget is just under £2,000 million a year, which represents a real-terms increase of almost 90 per cent. on 1979--allowing for inflation. More important, I agree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Brooke), who confirmed that morale in the Metropolitan police 18 months ago was at a low ebb.
Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale):
Eighteen years ago.
Sir Sydney Chapman:
I am sorry--18 years ago. The Minister may be able to give us the figures, but, compared with 18 years ago, there are more bobbies on the beat. In other words, more civilians have been brought in to do the work previously done by policemen which it was unnecessary for them to do. That was a commendable performance by the last Conservative Government.
A perennial source of worry is the high turnover of officers leaving the Metropolitan police force. Officers are not necessarily retiring or taking a different job, but going to police other areas of the country where they find attractions. In the long term, the Government will have to look at the London allowance for officers of the Met and at whether bonuses can be given according to the length of a constable's service in the Met.
By any standards, our Metropolitan police officers are asked to perform a difficult, dirty and dangerous job. I want to stress the dangers, and I repeat the statistic I gave when the Home Secretary kindly allowed me to intervene on his speech. Last year, according to the annual report, 12,276 police officers were injured while on duty, of which 3,280 were injured as a result of being assaulted while on duty. Those appalling figures demonstrate yet again the debt we owe to those people who serve us in tackling crime and disorder in our great capital city.
During the past 18 years, I accept that crime has increased dramatically not only in London but throughout the rest of the country. However, we must remember that the number of recorded crimes has gone down in the past four years--I think in the country as a whole, but certainly in the Metropolitan police area. Over the past four years, crime is down by almost 11 per cent.--by just over 100,000 crimes. Within that number, burglaries are down by 21 per cent. and car theft by 24 per cent. I applaud the special initiatives undertaken by the Metropolitan such as Operation Eagle Eye and Operation Bumblebee. I am pleased also that the detection rate is improving; that is good news for all Londoners.
The hon. Member for Upminster made the point that, unfortunately, serious crime--particularly crimes involving injury--have increased in our capital city over the past few years. That is a problem which the Home Secretary will want to address. Sir Paul Condon's foreword to the report says that, although he acknowledges that serious crimes are up, part of the reason for that is
I cannot find in the annual report information on the significance of the increase in serious recorded crime as a result of changes in police recording procedures. I have said that expenditure on the Metropolitan police is now just under £2,000 million a year. That is a huge increase, but it is worth noting that the previous Government planned an increase of about 3.4 per cent. for the current financial year--an increase of about £55 million. As the need to constrain public expenditure is currently shared by all hon. Members, such an increase is not to be sneezed at.
In the context of the Metropolitan police budget, I think that all hon. Members are deeply concerned about the rising cost of pensions, which I understand are unfunded and have to be met out of revenue. That problem will have to be faced not only by the Metropolitan police service but by the London fire and civil defence authority. The figures that I have gleaned--the Minister may care to confirm them--show that the pension bill now amounts to about £290 million a year. I reckon that that is 15 per cent. of the total budget, but I do not want to exaggerate and should point out that in his foreword Sir Paul Condon says that it is 9.9 per cent. of the total budget.
Whatever the percentage, it is a significantly rising figure. It is certainly 12 per cent. up on the previous year and I think that there has been an increase of about 50 per cent. over the past five years. The only way to get around that is by some special arrangement. It would be totally wrong to expect that a sum more than, never mind as much as, any increase in the Metropolitan police budget would be offset by the huge extra demand on police pensions.
The Metropolitan police have to tackle racism. We all take the view that racism is an obnoxious evil. It must be stamped out, and the courts and police must have the powers to do that. I understand that the crime and disorder Bill will contain clauses to give extra powers to the courts. Perhaps the Minister will give further detailed information on the Government's proposals. When I looked at the matter, I concluded that the police had all the powers that
they need to tackle racism under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Perhaps the Minister will refer to that when he is summing up.
"changes in police recording procedures".
Perhaps the Minister will give a little more information about that, although whether he can reassure us remains to be seen.
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