- Conference
- 2024 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 20 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
A decade of Tory austerity has starved our communities of essential services, eroded the resilience of the public sector and removed vital safety nets. Long term underfunding and cuts to key public services has made communities less safe and left vulnerable people without the help they need.
Conference asserts that the most effective and least damaging way to tackle crime happens long before a crime is committed. Public services such as pre-school enrichment programmes, Sure Start family centres, addiction treatment, decent stable housing, therapeutic support, mental health services and properly resourced trauma informed support are just some of the value for money investments that can reduce crime and improve the health and potential of the nation.
Reduced capacity across public services means more work for the police, the NHS and the criminal justice system. The disastrous privatisation and centralisation of the Probation Service by the government in 2014 has left probation with a critical workloads crisis.
Conference believes policing is a vital service which is used by all sections of the community.
Conference further believes that deep cuts to the police service has led to the erosion of neighbourhood policing and the important role of the police community support officer (PCSO), key to building trust with communities and for policing by consent.
Boris Johnson’s declaration to fund, nationally, an extra 20,000 officers may have appeared to be a positive step in reality it has resulted negatively on Police Staff. Police staff are the trained people behind the Police officers, they investigate the technical crimes, they do the research that enables Police Officers to make arrests. Police Staff roles are varied and their often behind the scenes work, is not seen or recognised for the value that it brings. When you make a call to the Police, the first person you talk to is very likely to be a staff member, they record details, decide on the type of response required, they will do background checks and ensure the right resource is assigned. These people are just the start of the process and are trained in depth to deal with just about every eventuality.
Due to binding targets on police officer numbers, spending on officer recruitment has meant a shortfall in funding for police staff and PCSOs, leaving police officers filling jobs formerly done by staff. This has been compounded by large budget deficits in forces across England and Wales and in Police Scotland. This has taken police officers away from their core crime fighting role and has led to a decimation of PCSO numbers and neighbourhood policing.
Conference notes that PCSO numbers have been significantly cut since the election of Conservative led governments in 2010. According to Home Office figures the full-time equivalent numbers of PCSOs in England have fallen by 51.8 percent between March 2010 and March 2023. This is 8,392 PCSOs.
PCSOs were introduced because police officers, by the nature of their role, are not able to spend the time in communities necessary to build long term confidence and trust. This is even more relevant today when police officer resources have been stretched to breaking point, PCSOs have kept neighbourhood policing alive. Substantial investment to rebuild the numbers of PCSOs in our communities is key to ensuring people feel safe in their neighbourhood.
Conference therefore calls upon the National Executive Council to:
1)Raise awareness of the impact of the loss of Police Staff jobs has on the whole of the community and campaign to highlight the risks to public safety of cuts and austerity;
2)Work with the Police and Justice Service group to campaign to save police staff jobs;
3)Campaign to restore funding to neighbourhood policing and restore the importance of the role of PCSOs and police staff;
4)Campaign to restore funding to youth services;
5)Campaign to restore the Probation Service as a community service, with local democratic oversight and management;
6)Continue campaigning for improved funding for mental health and an end to public health cuts, particularly in vital areas such as drug and alcohol services.