Question
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner is clear that, despite recent welcome funding increases from the Government to the capital city grant, to be able to police protests and events in London he has two pretty invidious choices on his hands: he either has to take police officers out of constituencies like mine—and the Policing Minister’s—to police those protests and events, or he has to cut back on just-in-case police officers, so there is a huge risk if an event flairs up. Which does the Policing Minister think is the better option?
Answer
I meet the commissioner regularly and we talk about these issues all the time. I should point out to the House that this Government are funding the police to record levels. Hundreds of millions of pounds extra are going to the Metropolitan police, with £2 billion extra going into policing since we came to power. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has just agreed rules on abstraction rates, which I know is a big challenge. I have had a lot of conversations with the commissioner about managing the risk of protests and maintaining officers in our communities. I think he has got the right balance at the moment, but we will, of course, continue to monitor that.
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply responds to the question but only partly. The Minister did not say which of the two options (redeploying officers or reducing reserves) they consider better. Instead, the reply states that the Commissioner currently has the right balance between protest policing and community officers and that this will be monitored. Because the answer is hedged and gives no clear preference, the person who asked would likely need to ask again for a direct position.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which of the two options the Policing Minister considers the better: redeploying police officers from constituencies such as the questioner's and the Minister's to police protests and events in London, or cutting back on 'just-in-case' police officers held in reserve for flare-ups. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply never states which of the two options the Minister considers better; it says the Commissioner has "the right balance at the moment" between protest risk and community officers and that this will be monitored, which only implicitly sidesteps the choice between redeployment and cutting reserves. |