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Mr. Evennett:
That is true. Teenage lads and girls on their way home are particularly vulnerable, yet the media highlight only the few. It should be borne in mind that the majority of youngsters are good and well behaved; it is the minority who are causing the
trouble—the fear, the antisocial behaviour, the drunkenness and the bingeing.
Some girls want to go to pop concerts, and it is great that they do. Others may want to go and hear serious music or visit the theatre. However, they do not like to come home on the train after 11 pm because of their fear of crime. There is fear on buses too, among drivers as well as passengers. Those based at Bexleyheath bus garage have experienced intimidation and aggression. It may be crime at a lower level, but it is serious nevertheless. Do people want to be on a bus at that time of night? They should think of the bus driver. All those problems must be dealt with. We want more people to use public transport, but it must be safe or they will not use it.
There is a local policing matter which, I know, concerns my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) as well. Many of my constituents travel through the Blackwall tunnel during the morning rush hour. Recently the contraflow was closed by TFL and the police, who were concerned about safety in the tunnel. Unfortunately, their action was not properly thought through. People who drive so badly that they could cause a serious incident in the Blackwall tunnel should be punished severely, rather than the contraflow being closed. The closure has had consequences for people getting to work, and for traffic throughput during the rush hour.
Apart from anything else, such actions make the police unpopular. In general they have become very popular because they are giving the public what they want, but in my area there is continuing concern about transport—not just about the safety of the travelling public, but about such matters as TFL’s closure of the Blackwall tunnel contraflow without any serious consideration or consultation with those involved. That is not good news if we want the public and the police to go on working together.
Graffiti and vandalism have increased dramatically on Bexleyheath broadway, as has bad behaviour, which is why there are more members of the community safety team in that area. I pay tribute to those who are working so hard in Bexleyheath to overcome the problems of binge drinking, antisocial behaviour and vandalism, and also to Bexley borough council, which has made a big effort to get rid of graffiti more quickly.
I know that a number of other Members want to speak, so I shall bring my few remarks to a conclusion. There has been progress, but there is much more to do. Conservative Members are concerned about how we make sure that quality of life issues are dealt with effectively. That difficult issue involves education, councils, communities and national Government—it involves all of us.
It is important to get across the point that if people think that their quality of life is threatened by what might indeed be lower levels of crime, they will react and become more fearful, and the result will be that they lead less happy lives. We are involved in this for people—not statistics. Over the years, the Minister and I have bandied about statistics on many issues, and I have a lot of time for him, but some Government statistics are manipulated. We must think about people because people matter, and we must make sure that their quality of life is improved. That is what we want to do, and that is why this debate has been of such high
quality. We do not want to be party political. We are trying to improve our city, London, and that means us working together. There have been great speeches so far, but we need more action on the quality of life issues.
3.56 pm
Mr. Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): When the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr. Evennett) commented at the beginning of his speech on how important it was that this debate on policing in London was taking place on the Floor of the House, and how much he welcomed that, a mischievous thought ran through my head. I recently became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House, and it occurred to me that I might take credit for this debate taking place—that I might take the glory for that. However, I cannot do so for a number of reasons, not least because the Minister with responsibility for London was mainly responsible for the debate taking place on the Floor of the House, along with the Minister for Policing, Security and Community Safety. They were keen for us to have a proper debate on policing in London in this Chamber. It is the right place for it.
Six hours is not long enough to do justice to the subject of policing in London. The police service in London is now just that—a service. It was not always thus; it used to be a police force. As a result, the responsibilities of the police have changed. The content of the conversation that we should have about the police service has changed, too. There are at least 8 million Londoners, and it is estimated that there are a further 500,000 non-citizens in the city. Therefore, there are huge pressures on our police service. Also, at least 40 per cent. of our Londoners are ethnic minority.
As well as that diversity, socio-economic demographics are in play in London. There are inner-city parts of our great capital city, and there are the suburbs and outer boroughs. Members in all parts of the House have commented on the different needs of different parts of the city. There is also the City of London, and the west end and commercial parts of the city, all of which bring different problems and challenges to our police service.
I want to begin by paying tribute to the Mayor of London, the Greater London authority and the Metropolitan Police Authority, who do a great job in investing in our police service and in holding it to account. Previously, the Metropolitan police and the commissioner were accountable only to the Home Secretary. We have changed that. The MPA holds the Metropolitan police to account in an open, transparent way, and that is welcomed. I also pay tribute to the commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, and police officers, who do a sterling job serving our communities throughout our city, and the safer neighbourhood teams, which are a recent innovation and an additional member of our family of police servants who do a great job.
The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Susan Kramer) congratulated the Minister with responsibility for policing on his comments about special constables. In Wandsworth, we are blessed with having fantastic specials. One of our specials, Fred Ahmed, has now been a special for more than 25 years. Recently in the
House of Commons there was an attestation ceremony at which more than 20 specials were sworn in, and recently in City Hall the GLA member Murad Qureshi organised for a further 30 specials to be sworn in, who will help police in Wandsworth make our community safer. Local authorities across the city do an invaluable job working in partnership with police officers and borough commanders. Civilians also play a huge role in preventing crime.
I want to begin by discussing police numbers. We cannot escape the fact that there has been a significant and much-needed expansion of police numbers in London. At the end of 2000-01, there were 25,430 police officers; as of this February, that figure had risen by 5,487 to 30,917, which equates to a 22 per cent. increase. Furthermore, we now have police community support officers. There were zero before 2000; now, there are almost 4,000. As my hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck) said, in comparing statistics the baseline from which we start is very important. Should we compare current figures with those from 1991, from 1997 or from 2000?
Those in the Chamber who complained—most of them were Members of Her Majesty’s official Opposition—that the number of police officers is not increasing fast enough, or that we are not getting enough CSOs on to our streets fast enough to make our communities safer, should ask where the money and the investment is coming from. They cannot criticise the Mayor for standing by a manifesto commitment to increase precepts and to use the money to pay for more CSOs and police officers, and then criticise him again for there not being more CSOs and police officers. The same point applies to general taxation. They cannot say that there are not enough police officers, and then say that they want to share the proceeds of growth by offering tax cuts, while investing in public services and police officers. Police officers and CSOs cost money, and that money comes via taxation—both local precepts and general taxation. When we hear expressed these mock concerns about there being not enough CSOs and police officers, we must carefully consider whether those expressing them are sincere or are simply playing party politics.
Mr. Khan: On that note, I give way to the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening).
Justine Greening: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I note that he talked about the number of officers across London. Does he share my concern that the baseline number—the important figure—not of CSOs but of fully trained, uniformed officers in Wandsworth has fallen in the past decade? Does he agree that it is time that we got those 80-odd extra officers back on to our local force and out there tackling crime in the community?
Mr. Khan: I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for allowing Members to hear the kind of party political propaganda that is used in Wandsworth, and I shall tell her why. [Interruption.] She is heckling, but I cannot hear her.
Justine Greening: It is a fact.
Mr. Khan: The hon. Lady needs to take account of the fact that the formula by which officers are allocated was drawn up before 1997. Secondly, we in Wandsworth have the benefit of the territorial support group—a pool of officers who go from borough to borough and area to area. The third point that the hon. Lady needs to take into account is that London now has 5,500 more police officers. Fourthly, every single one of the 20 Wandsworth wards has benefited from having one sergeant, two officers and at least three CSOs. The Tooting ward, which I represented for 12 years, has one sergeant, two officers and seven CSOs.
Fifthly, when emergencies occur, officers from other boroughs come to Wandsworth’s aid. Last Saturday, I commemorated workers memorial day by attending the unveiling of a plaque in Battersea, and while there I was reminded that police officers from other parts of London came to Battersea’s aid in its time of need, back in September 2006. Sixthly, the hon. Lady needs to explain the following situation. The Mayor of London and the GLA—both elected by the people—can decide, via the MPA, how officers are allocated. However, the Merton and Wandsworth GLA member, who is a Conservative, fails to be the advocate and champion of Merton and Wandsworth that I hope a Labour GLA member would. However, I digress with my six points. I could have gone on much longer, but I know that time is short.
It is also worth discussing safer neighbourhood teams. I welcome the congratulations for the Mayor expressed on both sides of the Chamber, save by the only Member who has spoken who does not represent a London constituency. I do not blame him for that as it is not his fault. It is worth bearing in mind that the Mayor stood on a manifesto to introduce safer neighbourhood teams and he has implemented that commitment at least a year ahead of time.
In Tooting, all seven wards have a full complement of safer neighbourhood teams. In Tooting ward, we have the excellent Sergeant Lisa Hurley, who leads from the front. She walks the streets, is on first-name terms with people and is putting the bobby back on the beat. When my constituents, neighbours and friends comment on how nice it is to see an officer on the street, they do not point out that his or her uniform is not the same colour as that of a police officer, or that the number of pips on the shoulder is different. They welcome the uniformed presence and it has made a big difference to the perception of safety in Tooting.
Parts of Tooting do have problems with antisocial behaviour. We have laws to give the police more powers to take action against problems, and contact points, funded by the Mayor, in hotspots where they are needed. There are problems in the town centre and I hope that we will soon have a dispersal zone, so that the minority of young people who cause problems can be dispersed, and a contact point for the police on the high street, which could be of great benefit. Another example is in Earlsfield and Wandsworth Common, where Sergeant Ben Bond is working with local sports clubs and residents to ensure that young people have constructive things to do. At school times, police officers cycle up and down streets around secondary schools. Young people are bigger than they were when I
was young and some people can feel intimidated by them—sometimes with justification. Low level antisocial behaviour—not necessarily criminal—can be deterred by a uniformed male or female police officer or PCSO cycling up and down the road, and that can be a huge benefit to the area. It is also worth noting that the Mayor not only fulfilled a manifesto commitment, but ensured that it happened at least a year ahead of time.
My third point relates to crime figures. Crime in London has fallen. There are those pedants who play numerical gymnastics and claim that using this or that criterion proves that crime has not fallen or has not fallen fast enough. However, the official figures show that overall crime is down for the fourth year in a row. It fell by 6.3 per cent. last year, meaning that there were 62,000 fewer victims of crime.
The hon. Member for Putney made the point that each crime is 100 per cent. to the person involved. That is true, but 62,000 people have been 100 per cent. prevented from becoming the victims of crime. As she said, every crime is very serious. Well, 62,000 very serious incidents have been prevented by the policies and investment of this Government and the Mayor. The number of violent crimes fell by 6.1 per cent. over the past 12 months in London. There were fewer hate crimes last year compared to the year before. Total recorded crimes fell by 12 per cent. between 1999-2000—I use that baseline because that was the year before we had a Mayor—and 2006-07.
In Wandsworth, the figures are equally impressive. If one compares the 12 months to December 2005 with the 12 months to December 2006, total crime is down, as is violence against the person, robbery, domestic crime, racist crime and homophobic crime. Those are real crimes that have been prevented and real victims who have escaped the pain and suffering that they would have experienced. Not only are we stopping crimes taking place, but the presence of the safer neighbourhood teams is contributing to a decrease in the fear of crime and of becoming a victim of crime.
My fourth point concerns diversity. We need to remind ourselves of how the police in this great city were perceived 20 years ago, and even more recently. Lessons have been learned from the murder of Stephen Lawrence, from the Macpherson inquiry and from other racist murders and, as a result, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a positive duty in respect of race relations on all public authorities, including the Metropolitan police. Indeed, the Met now has a race equality scheme, which it observes in both letter and spirit, and its recruitment and retention have both improved.
People remember the sus laws in force before 1984, and the stop-and-search approach was an improvement on them. We now have stop and account, and the hon. Members for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) and for Richmond Park both noted that young black people now have more positive experiences of the police, instead of the negative ones of the past.
Those young black people know that the relationship between the police and the public goes both ways. That relationship is not always negative, because the police are seen as the public’s partners—a perception that means that people who might have been victims of
police misconduct in the past are today more willing to come forward and report crimes. In the end, partnership working is what policing by consent is all about.
For the first time ever, we have an independent police complaints system. One of the biggest complaints made by alleged victims of police misconduct in the past used to be that the police investigated themselves. All that has changed, thanks to this Labour Government, and the improvements in terms of representation and diversity mean that the people who police our great city represent the city that they police.
No debate about policing in London can escape the question of terrorism. This week, the long-term investigation that was Operation Crevice achieved a great success. Huge amounts of resources had been invested in it; dozens if not hundreds of lives were saved, and five convictions were secured. That was a victory for due process and the whole anti-terrorist operation, but there is no escaping the fact that our security services have to succeed every time if they are to keep us safe, whereas a terrorist need succeed only once to inflict huge suffering on us. We saw what happened on 7/7, when we were not so successful.
Over the past couple of years, our community police officers have done a fantastic job in building bridges between the various communities that live in London. At the Tooting Islamic centre there is a police contact centre, where police officers are able to meet young Muslims and black people in a positive way. The youngsters can get their property marked and report crime, and they can talk to the police about local matters. The centre does a wonderful job, and is a huge boon for the local community.
However, there have been two anti-terrorist raids in Tooting in the past couple of years, with squads such as SO13 making arrests in the middle of the night. After a few days, though, everyone arrested was released without charge, and it is clear that such incidents can have a negative impact on the local community. The local police had done wonderful work over the preceding weeks, months and years in building up relationships but that can be undone if the aftermath of such raids is not conducted sensitively.
Just as recruitment and retention among community support officers and police officers have been improved, so we must improve recruitment and retention among the specialist officers dealing with anti-terrorist operations. Notions about policing by consent and by partnership are no less relevant in counter-terrorism operations than they are in other areas of police work.
As a south London MP, I cannot escape talking about problems to do with guns, knives and gangs. People who do not come from the area assume that such problems are the only thing that happens there. For example, the manager of my parliamentary office comes from Crewe originally—I do not hold that against him—and a few weeks ago his mum and dad telephoned him because they were petrified about the fact that he was working in London. They were scared that he might be the victim of a gang, a gun or a knife.
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