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Neighbourhood Policing

It is a great pleasure to take part in the debate as someone who also represents middle England. It is a pleasure to support and congratulate my near neighbour in Staffordshire, my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney), on securing the debate, which is timely because we are at the beginning of the neighbourhood policing campaign. In Staffordshire, there are 2,300 officers and 21 neighbourhood policing units, each of which is headed by an inspector with 251 police constables and 224 PCSOs. I congratulate all the officers in Staffordshire, but perhaps I will especially concentrate on the neighbourhood policing teams and the neighbourhood policing campaign. I join my hon. Friend in supporting Staffordshire's bid for the roll-out of hand-held computers. I also commend Staffordshire police authority for reducing bureaucracy. I also congratulate Staffordshire police authority on being at the forefront of introducing neighbourhood policing. In Staffordshire, neighbourhood policing was introduced well over a year ago and Staffordshire has been a leading police force in guaranteeing named officers in every neighbourhood. Understandably, there is pride in the achievement of Staffordshire police. My old friend Mike Poulter, chair of Staffordshire police authority, is quoted on the authority's website as saying:"““We were among just a handful of forces to be graded 'excellent' in the national Police Performance Assessments for how we've rolled out neighbourhood policing. We are passionately committed to maintaining a named officer in every neighbourhood.””" When I spoke to a senior officer in my local division, he showed his enthusiasm and support for neighbourhood policing, describing the value of police community support officers. He told me how the PCSOs take ownership of their community and are able to provide intelligence and feedback about activities and problems in their area, and he described the value of the police consultation meetings, which involve partnership agencies and thus enable local people to raise not only policing issues but other matters that are of concern to them. PCSOs bring with them a wealth of experience from their previous occupations. I have met many PCSOs who have had jobs in different sectors, gaining experience that is a considerable advantage when it comes to local neighbourhood policing. They also represent a wide range of ages, because they enter the PCSO family at different ages, and they are from various backgrounds. They are truly representative of the local communities that they serve. I am glad that our neighbourhood police officers work as a team with the PCSOs and in partnership with our local communities, including with local councillors and wardens. They know their communities and provide the reassurance that the public need. We should also remember that, in the family of neighbourhood policing, we have the volunteers—our special constabulary that splendidly supports the regular police force. Indeed, in most ways it is indistinguishable from the regular police force. Reference has been made to the number of special constables. In the Burton neighbourhood policing unit, we have 14 police constables, 14 PCSOs and 25 special constables, and in the Uttoxeter NPU, we have six police constables, five PCSOs and six special constables. There are more special constables in those areas than full-time officers. I thank all those involved in law enforcement in Staffordshire and congratulate Staffordshire police authority on the content of its website. Some hon. Members have already mentioned the importance of websites. The Staffordshire police authority website not only gives some of the history of the police force, but provides information on the policies and aspirations of Staffordshire police, neighbourhood watch schemes, Crimestoppers and PCSOs. Most importantly, the website gives full details of how people can contact their own neighbourhood police officer and their PCSOs, including by e-mail. The hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) mentioned e-mail, and certainly in Staffordshire the website sets out how e-mail contact can be made with officers. My constituents can look at the details of the Burton and Uttoxeter NPUs; they can see how many officers we have and they can access their contact details, including their phone numbers; and they can obtain that information through the website. Through local events, Staffordshire police authority is promoting awareness of neighbourhood policing fortnight and the importance of people learning the contact details of officers. I welcome that process. People can also get that information by visiting the local police station or by phoning 0845 330 2010, or from the Safer Staffs. newspapers. I urge people to find out who their local officers are, whether that is in Staffordshire, including in my constituency, or elsewhere in the country, because it is important to ensure that people are aware of their local police officers. We can make people feel safer in our communities by providing that knowledge of whom they can contact. Having first declared an interest as a member of my local neighbourhood watch committee, I commend neighbourhood watch schemes for the support that they give to the police and the help that they give in protecting local communities. Earlier, there was mention of funding for neighbourhood watch co-ordinators. Certainly in my area there are some concerns about the long-term funding of those co-ordinators. In my patch, one officer is being funded through the borough council and the other through the county council, but because that funding is not long-term, we have certainly lost one of those officers. I am therefore concerned that we should ensure security of funding. If we lose those officers, we will lose the great service that local people have developed over the years to try to help the police to protect their communities. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford for raising this subject. As has been said before, it is opportune. We should raise the public's awareness that they have neighbourhood officers and encourage our constituents to attend the local consultation meetings, to talk to the police and to help to provide that safety, security and reduction in crime in our neighbourhoods that we all wish to see.