Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Neighbourhood Crimes: Effectiveness of Police Community Support Officers

Monday 14 November 2022 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Government reports a 20% reduction in neighbourhood crime since 2019.
  • Chief constables are responsible for deciding the number of PCSOs to recruit.
  • The Home Secretary calls for an end to protests causing high levels of abstraction.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Helen Hayes Lab Dulwich and West Norwood
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The question arises from concerns about the role of PCSOs in reducing neighbourhood crime. The MP is questioning whether these officers are effective.

Question

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of police community support officers in tackling neighbourhood crime?

Answer from Chris Philp

The Government are determined to reduce neighbourhood crime, and I am pleased to report that, since 2019, neighbourhood crime has reduced by about 20%. It is up to chief constables to decide on the level of PCSOs that they choose to recruit.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific effectiveness of PCSOs not addressed directly, only overall reduction in neighbourhood crime mentioned

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Q2 Helen Hayes Lab Dulwich and West Norwood
Policing & Resources
Context

The MP is following up on the effectiveness of PCSOs, asking for details on current vs. past police officer numbers assigned to neighbourhood roles.

Question

Police community support officers have a vital role to play in tackling neighbourhood crime and building trust and confidence in policing at a community level. Will the Minister confirm how many fewer officers are assigned to neighbourhood roles compared with 2010?

Answer from Chris Philp

Neighbourhood crime is about 20% lower than in 2019, and after the recruitment of an extra 20,000 police officers next year, we will have a record number of uniformed officers serving.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Number of fewer officers compared to 2010 not addressed directly, only current status mentioned

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Q3 Theresa Villiers Con
Policing & Resources
Context

The MP is concerned about the Mayor of London's funding decisions affecting neighbourhood policing.

Question

Will the Minister ask the Mayor of London why he is starving boroughs such as Barnet of the officers needed to make up SNTs?

Answer from Chris Philp

The Metropolitan police already have more uniformed officers than at any point in their history, and they received a £170 million funding increase this year.

Not addressed: Question about Mayor's decisions on officer allocation not addressed, focused instead on current officer numbers and funding

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Q4 Barry Gardiner Lab Brent West
Policing & Resources
Context

The MP is concerned about the abstraction of police resources due to protests.

Question

Will the Home Secretary undertake to publish abstraction figures as a matter of routine?

Answer from Chris Philp

Such operational matters are for the police, but I share the hon. Gentleman's concern about the level of abstraction owing to protests and call for an end to these protests.

Not addressed: Request for routine publication of abstraction figures not addressed directly, focused on protesting issues instead

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Q5 Vicky Ford Con
Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The MP is concerned about spiking incidents reported via email and social media.

Question

Will the Minister join me in encouraging all those who think they may have been victims of spiking to come forward and report the incidents?

Answer from Chris Philp

My right hon. Friend makes an extremely important point, and I join her in calling on victims of spiking offences to come forward as quickly as possible.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q6 Naseem Shah Lab Bradford West
Policing & Resources
Context

The MP is raising concerns about cuts in the number of PCSOs.

Question

Will the Minister match Labour's commitment to hire thousands more PCSOs as part of a fully funded neighbourhood policing programme?

Answer from Chris Philp

The total funding going into policing this year is £16.9 billion, with a £1.1 billion increase on last year. When those 20,000 extra officers are hired next April, we will have a record number of uniformed officers serving.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Commitment to hire more PCSOs not addressed directly, focused instead on total funding and officer numbers

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