Following a meeting with the Policing Minister, Diana Johnson MP, Luke Myer MP attended the Police Funding debate in Parliament to formally put on record the crime in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. Luke pressed the minister for increased funding for Cleveland Police, as well as a stronger focus on frontline community policing, particularly in rural towns and villages where concerns have been mounting. Luke shared that he has spoken with numerous residents directly affected by crime and anti-social behaviour in recent months. He emphasised the importance of identifying those responsible so they can face the full extent of the law.
Speaking at the debate Luke said,
“Last week in my constituency a fire was started in Marton, shop fronts smashed in Guisborough, a pharmacy broken into and its contents burglarised and staff assaulted. Police officers responded and arrests were made, but these are not individual, isolated incidents—this is a pattern and picture of crime across the country. It is a picture of criminals who feel emboldened and residents who feel unsafe. I am grateful to the Policing Minister for taking the time to meet me to discuss police funding in Cleveland, the area I represent.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to raise these issues here as well, because this is what people are dealing with every day; People feel afraid to leave the house; they do not feel safe in their communities; they do not feel confident that when they call the police, the police will come, or that crimes will be investigated when they report them. They do not feel confident that the courts will see justice done, and certainly not timely justice.
“In my part of the world, we have seen major cuts to our police force. We have lost more than 200 officers net since 2010—a 12% reduction in full-time equivalent officers—and all the while demand has gone up. Our officers work incredibly hard under extraordinary pressure, and although they make arrests, the broader criminal justice system is creaking at the seams. Prosecution rates have fallen over the past decade, victims wait months and even years for cases to come to trial and judges have been advised to delay sentencing because of the lack of prison capacity. The system is in crisis and it has been allowed to get to this point after years of systematic underfunding and a lack of support. That is why investment in our criminal justice system is crucial.
“Investment has to come at all four stages of the system. It has to come into our prison estate, and I welcome the £2.3 billion investment announced in the Budget last week to expand our prison capacity and ensure that we have the necessary prison places. Investment needs to go into bringing down the court backlog so that cases are heard in a timely fashion and victims feel that justice will be served.
“We need investment in visible community policing again. Residents desperately want a named officer for every community, who understands their village or town, knows the families and the history, and can tackle issues before they escalate. That was the cornerstone of the consent-based model of British policing for decades, and it has been eroded in recent years; it must be restored.
“We also need investment in prevention. The previous Labour Government were famously tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. They provided funding for Sure Start and targeted schemes such as the safer school partnerships and the family intervention projects. That is what the new Labour Government needs to do.”
The following evening Luke was back in the constituency at a debate organised by Councillor Bill Suthers and attended by East Cleveland Police, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Guisborough residents. Luke was there to listen to the residents discussing crime and antisocial behaviour in their town and to share his drive and commitment. There were approximately 200 who turned out across two sessions – showing their strength of feeling on this issue.
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