HC Deb 22 April 2002 vol 384 cc7-10
3. Mr. David Lidington (Aylesbury)

What recent assessment he has made of police morale. [47062]

13. Bob Spink (Castle Point)

What recent assessment he has made of police morale. [47073]

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett)

We created an extra 4,578 officers in the period from March 2000 to January this year; we have established a new occupational health service; and we have provided a one-third increase in capital investment for this coming year to enhance the conditions in which officers work and the technology that they use. We have slimmed down bureaucracy, and we have made a commitment to having 130,000 officers by this time next year. As a result, we can all look forward to officers catching more criminals and being able to protect us more effectively. We will ensure that they know that they are valued, and feel that they are valued, and that their morale improves all the time.

Mr. Lidington

Surely the Home Secretary agrees that the optimistic assessment that he has just given the House would be regarded by the more than 800 officers from the Thames Valley alone who attended the lobby and rally in central London as at best a fantasy compared with the reality that they experience. Does he realise that one of the chief causes of low morale in our police service has been his intemperate and hectoring language towards hard-pressed officers in all parts of the country? Does he now regret describing our police as wreckers?

Mr. Blunkett

I would, but I have never used that word. I have never described the police as wreckers privately, publicly, on radio or in writing or to any journalist. When Opposition Members, like some journalists, put words into my mouth, they should ensure that they get them accurate.

Bob Spink

Over the past two weeks, I have met the Police Federation, the police associations, police officers and sergeants on the beat day and night in my constituency, and I have spoken with senior command officers in Essex. They all tell me that police morale is at dangerous levels. Does the Home Secretary realise that, if, he continues to pursue his policies of centralisation and putting civilians on the street with police powers, the morale of the police will be driven lower, to even more dangerous levels? Will he pull back from those ill-thought-out reforms?

Mr. Blunkett

First, the only civilians who are, or who will be, put on the streets with police powers are the Specials. We are not proposing to give community support officers a replica set of police powers.

Secondly, the police themselves want support and back-up work. The Metropolitan force in particular has asked us for that. Anyone, in this place or the Lords, who votes against that proposition should answer to the public and to the locality—and to the Commissioner and the other chief constables who they rightly say should have operational control—as to why they want to take away the power and right to have the operational control and the support for full-time, trained officers, many of whom are on the beat because we have put an extra 4,500 on the streets over the past two years.

Vernon Coaker (Gedling)

I thank my right hon. Friend for visiting Nottinghamshire last week, where he saw a force that was not having a crisis of morale but working hard, in partnership with others, to tackle some real problems. However, one issue that affects the morale of the police is the fact that persistent offenders are constantly bailed by the courts, which undermines the good work that the police often do. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that his proposals to deal more effectively with persistent offenders are speedily implemented?

Mr. Blunkett

First, I confirm that the morale of the force was very high. Steve Green, the chief constable, is an excellent leader and manager who is doing a first-rate job with officers in a service that has been reorganised since 2 April. That is enthusing all of them with a new vigour and commitment.

Secondly, yes, we shall put in place the recommendations that I made last Tuesday. The order has been laid in respect of intermediate cases that did not previously result in remand for those on bail. Furthermore, the Chancellor's Budget enabled me to set up additional places—2,300 remand and prison places—over the months ahead. That will enable the courts to do the job that we all want done so that repeat, continuing, prolific offenders are put out of harm's way until they can be dealt with through the courts and properly convicted.

Mr. Chris Mullin (Sunderland, South)

Has my right hon. Friend noticed that there has been no year during the past 10 when those representing, or purporting to represent, the police have not declared police morale to be at an all-time low? Has he also noticed that the number of recruits to the police is at an all-time high, and that there is no difficulty in attracting recruits? Does he consider that odd?

Mr. Blunkett

Yes, I consider it very odd indeed.

Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham)

Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the factors depressing police morale in London and the south-east is that, despite recent improvements in housing allowances, many police officers have to commute long distances because of the shortage of affordable housing? Does he share my concern about the fact that the Metropolitan police in particular are continuing the policy introduced under the last Government of selling off police housing? Is he monitoring that process and giving guidance to the authority about the proper policy to pursue?

Mr. Blunkett

We were pleased to be able to join the national health service in using its low-cost co-ordinators to find accommodation and identify property suitable for renting. We are using the new programme for travel costs brought in by my predecessor. That has been a tremendous boon to those working in the Metropolitan area—sometimes to the detriment of forces just outside, as people find that it is attractive to be able to travel into the area. Of course, I am happy to raise with the Metropolitan police authority and with the Commissioner any concerns expressed by hon. Members, in the expectation that, within their operational jurisdiction, they will listen to those concerns.

Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton)

Will my right hon. Friend accept Labour Members" appreciation for his work to improve police morale at all levels through discussion and dialogue with officers? Does he believe that more aids such as CCTV—particularly portable CCTV, which will help officers in small urban areas—would greatly boost police morale?

Mr. Blunkett

Together with up-to-date, 21st-century equipment and the complete review in which we are engaged, the process through which police officers make charges and secure subsequent convictions and the spreading of excellence across the country will ensure that best practice can be available to all. Of course, that process is backed up by the measures that I described earlier, which will reduce sickness absence and support those who work day in, day out at the sharp end, including the rewards in the new reform package. They will provide specific bonus payments for those who do the most difficult tasks in the most difficult circumstances at the most difficult time of the week.

Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield)

The Home Secretary will doubtless agree with the apparently unanimous view of the House that nothing would raise the morale of the police more than the feeling that they are, as he said earlier, out on main street fighting crime in the community. But have not the bureaucratic measures introduced by this Government during the past five years contributed to the feeling among police officers that they cannot do so? As one community constable said, they face an ever increasingly demanding environment where performance targets seem to outnumber personnel. Moreover, even if the Home Secretary did not use the word "wreckers", criticisms have been expressed about the police's belief that they are consistently denigrated—an impression that drove them to lobby the House. Has not the combination of those two factors done more to undermine police morale than anything else?

Mr. Blunkett

No, I do not agree. I am sorry that we cannot give the hon. Gentleman a round of applause for his rhetoric, but it bears no resemblance to reality. Officers lobbied the House—in most cases, perfectly reasonably—because they were concerned that the package of measures would lead to too many losers and not enough winners, and in particular because they were concerned about premium payments on overtime rates. That is what the conciliation process is seeking to address, and I think that a solution will be found.

Because of increased numbers, better technology, the spread of best practice and the demanding of better from all forces so that the performance of the best can be matched, people in our communities will experience better security and safety, and will be able to believe more readily statistics showing that crime has fallen. Above all, they will be prepared to invest further in crime reduction and policing, because they will see that it is worth while. That applies not only to those who are subject to the worst criminality in our most deprived communities, but to those who are negotiating the spending review.