MPA Statement: MPA Chief Executive responds to Ken Livingstone’s petition to the Metropolitan Police Authority

22 July 2010

In response to Ken Livingstone’s petition to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and Mayor Boris Johnson to reverse the decision to cut 455 police officers and guarantee the future of London’s dedicated 630 safer neighbourhood police teams, Catherine Crawford MPA Chief Executive said at the Authority meeting on 22 July:

“The decision to streamline the staffing of custody suites throughout the Metropolitan Police, releasing 550 police officers from administrative duties and replacing them with designated detention officers was discussed several times by members during 2008 and the final decision to go ahead was confirmed by the Co-ordination and Policing Committee, chaired by Len Duvall, then Chair of the Authority. The savings that accrued from this change were built into the budget approved by the then Mayor and the Assembly for 2009-10 and subsequently. The history of the reforms stemmed from the 2004 Service Improvement Review into Custody Capacity which identified significant inefficiencies and risks to the safety of detainees.

The net effect of the custody reforms is the availability of an extra 550 police officers for front line duties. The linked reduction of 455 in overall policing numbers must be measured against the increased hours of duty on the streets of London. The decision by the previous Authority to take this step was judged by the current Chair and membership to be sensible and the savings that accrue continue to be reflected in the budget.

On the subject of safer neighbourhood teams the MPA, the current Chair, Kit Malthouse and indeed the Commissioner have consistently made it clear that neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of local crime fighting and must remain so. Given the need to achieve substantial savings across all public sector budgets the Authority cannot rule out examining the case for greater efficiencies in the provision of neighbourhood policing but the intention is to continue to operate with safer neighbourhood teams across London.

Notes to Editors

1. The full Authority committee papers are available on the MPA website at: www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/mpa/2010/100722 

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback