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Policing in London

I apologise to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for missing the opening speech in this important debate. I was in my constituency where I was pleased to greet, for the first time ever, the Mayor of London, who despite being Mayor for the past seven years has never before visited my constituency. He went to the bus garage in North street where he met staff and greeted 18 new police community support officers who will be working throughout Romford and the London borough of Havering. I was pleased to give the Mayor of London a little badge like the one I am wearing—the town crest of Romford—to remind him that Romford is part of Greater London. Although he has not visited Romford until now, it is important that he and the Greater London authority do not forget areas of outer London, particularly Romford, when resources are being allocated. Until now, statistics show that Romford has been forgotten; we have one of the lowest rates of police cover per head of population in London. As the Minister knows, Harrow, too, is rather low down the scale; the boroughs of Havering, Harrow, Richmond, including Barnes, and Bromley, as my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Mr. Horam) knows, are the four lowest in London. Police resources are unfairly spread throughout Greater London and their allocation does not take into account all the circumstances, so I urge the Minister and the Government to take action to ensure fairer allocation of resources so that places such as the London borough of Havering, and Romford in particular, are given the police cover we deserve and pay for. My constituents are constantly angry because they cannot get a policeman to come out when a crime is committed, and they rarely see policemen on the beat. Although CSOs and safer neighbourhood teams have helped, we have not nearly the amount of police cover we need. Police are needed for London-wide events; during President Bush’s visit to London a few years ago, I stood in the Mall to cheer him as he passed and was amazed to see loads of policemen with ““KD”” on their lapel, which signifies the London borough of Havering. That was a classic example. When there is a state visit, a huge football match or an event of note in London, police from outer London are dragged into the centre and we lose cover in areas such as Romford where we pay for it and need it. Our PCSOs do an excellent job. I welcome their presence on the streets of London and I welcome safer neighbourhood teams. However, we should not look at the situation through rose-tinted glasses. My hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) highlighted many points about statistics and the failings in the system with which I entirely agree. New PCSOs will help; a visible presence on the streets can help to deter crime and give local residents reassurance that somebody is watching over them to ensure that crime is kept to the minimum. However, being a PCSO should be a stepping stone to becoming a fully fledged policeman. It is no good PCSOs finishing work at 6 o’clock if there is no one to do the job in the evening. We need 24-hour policing and PCSOs need a career path that allows them to become police constables.