Warwickshire PCC warns police reform proposals will leave local residents worse off
PCC Philip Seccombe has raised concerns around the Government's new proposals
The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Warwickshire has warned that police reform proposals risk leaving local residents worse off.
The proposals in the Government's Police Reform White paper aim to address outdated systems and provide resources to tackle modern crime effectively.
Philip Seccombe has also raised concerns that the plans could draw resources away from the issues that matter in Warwickshire and damage the strong progress made by Warwickshire Police in recent years.
In a statement today (January 27) Mr Seccombe said: “The Government’s Police Reform White Paper sets out significant changes to the way policing may operate in the future.
"While I welcome efforts to improve national capability, particularly through investment in technology and the creation of a National Police Service to better co-ordinate specialist functions, I remain deeply concerned that the proposals to reduce the number of police forces and move towards much larger regional structures will not deliver the improvements the public are being promised.
“For a county like Warwickshire, with its mix of urban and rural communities, being absorbed into a very large regional force risks drawing focus and resources away from the issues that matter here.
"The belief that a larger force automatically delivers a better service is not supported by evidence.
"Previous attempts at creating very large organisations have shown that they become slower to respond, less connected to local areas and more difficult for residents to influence.
"I will not support a model that creates distance between the public and those responsible for keeping them safe."
“Warwickshire Police has shown what a local service can achieve.
"The force was the top performing in the country for attending burglaries during the last financial year, ensuring every reported incident received a police attendance and delivering a significant improvement in outcomes.
"These are the results of a police service that knows its communities and has clear local accountability.
"If Warwickshire is submerged into a much larger organisation, I fear that incidents currently prioritised and attended in smaller forces will be overlooked in favour of the demands of major cities.
"Our rural communities in particular would be placed at a disadvantage. We have worked hard to build dedicated rural crime teams, which I fear would be the first to be dismantled or diverted in a regionalised model."
Mr Seccombe also addressed the Government's plans to remove the role of PCC's from 2028:
“The White Paper also proposes the removal of Police and Crime Commissioners by 2028, replacing direct public accountability with complex new structures led by regional mayors or council boards.
"This would weaken the clear line of accountability residents currently have. Decisions about policing in Warwickshire should be made in Warwickshire.
"Our residents pay their council tax expecting local accountability, and they deserve to know that their specific concerns are being heard and acted upon.
“There is also an absence of action on the most significant issue affecting policing today. Warwickshire receives less central funding per head than many areas, a position that has worsened over the past decade as the population has grown.
"This has placed increasing pressure on local taxpayers, who now provide almost half of the force budget.
"Reforming the funding formula would deliver far greater benefit to local policing than redrawing boundaries or creating new regional structures."
Mr Seccombe also emphasised that the priority "must always be the safety of our communities."