Agenda item

Councillor Longstaff moved the motion the name of Councillor Grocock and moved an amendment in his name. Councillor Sara Conway moved an amendment in her name. Debate ensued.

*Councillor Zakia Zubairi left the meeting at 20.54pm*

The votes on the amendment in Councillor Sara Conway name were recorded as follows:

For: 37

Against: 18

Abstain: 0

Absent: 7

Total: 62

The amendment in the name of Councillor Sara Conway was CARRIED.

The votes on the amendment in the name of Councillor Longstaff were recorded as follows:

For: 18

Against: 37

Abstain: 0

Absent: 7

Total: 62

The amendment in the name of Councillor Longstaff was LOST.

Votes on the motion as amended by Councillor Sara Conway were recorded as follows:

For: 37

Against: 18

Abstain: 0

Absent: 7

Total: 62

The motion as amended by Councillor Sara Conway was CARRIED.

RESOLVED that:

Council notes that:

1.    Barnet has experienced some horrific acts of crime over many years, including recently with three stabbings and a shooting on our streets.

2.    While the Government increased its funding to the Metropolitan Police by £138.9m in 2021 and have committed to a further increase of £164.2m in 2022 with the additional announcement in December 2022 that in the 2023/2024 period the total funding for Policing will be up to £17.2 billion, this is too little, too late.

3.    Before that, the Government had cut the Met’s funding by £1bn since 2010.

4.    During the last decade of Conservative austerity, Met police officer numbers plummeted below 30,000 and Ministers slashed police, justice and youth services - causing violent crime to rise in London and across the UK.

5.    Since 2010 under a Conservative Government and Conservative Mayor, Barnet lost hundreds of police officers.

6.    Since 2017, violence against the person has risen 11%, muggings by 25%, rape by nearly 11% and other sexual offences by over 33.1% in London. In Barnet, between the same time, general crime rose by 21% with lockdown being the only respite in the continual increase.

7.    The main increases in crime in Barnet are:

a)    Violence and sexual offences

b)   Vehicle crimes

Council also notes that:

1.       The Labour Mayor of London has reinvested over £1bn in policing and tackling crime – the most of any Mayor from City Hall – funding 1,300 more police officers across London with a minimum of two Dedicated Ward Officers and one PCSO allocated to every ward in the City, including Barnet.

2.       Overall, crime in London is now falling, bucking the national trend.

3.       But the level of violence remains too high and the Mayor is determined to use his budget to continue making progress by investing more in the police as well as programmes to tackle the complex causes of crime.

4.       The Mayor has stablished a Violence Reduction Unit, which is bringing together local councils, the NHS, schools, community groups and others to work on a shared approach to diverting vulnerable young Londoners away from violence by providing them with help and support at key moments in their lives. 

5.       This year’s extra funding for the police from the Mayor’s precept will go directly towards putting an additional 500 Police Community Support Officers into neighbourhoods across London – taking the total number of PCSOs to the highest level since 2016.

6.       Barnet’s Conservatives rejected the Mayor’s offer of additional police with the Mayor’s ‘buy one get one free’ scheme when they were in administration whilst Barnet’s Conservative MPs voted to cut national police funding.

Council believes that:

1. The people of Barnet should feel safe in their borough, their neighbourhoods and their homes.
2. Increased police presence decreases the frequency of property-related crimes and antisocial behaviour and increase the success rate of prosecution for these crimes.
3. In order to make our residents feel safe, it is important that there is a visible police presence across the borough. 
4. The Government must work with the Mayor to support the Met’s work to bear down on violence by delivering on the 6,000 additional police officers our city urgently needs and commit to properly funding long-term solutions to tackle violence as we have done at City Hall.

Council resolves to:

1.            Welcome the increase in Dedicated Ward Officers and PCSOs in Barnet funded by the current Mayor of London

2.        Welcome the renewed focus on police responses to burglary to rebuild confidence and trust in the police by getting the basics of policing right.

2.            Call upon all councillors to continue to support requests to the Mayor of London to provide the Borough of Barnet with more Police.

3.             Urge the Mayor of London to:

a)    Continue to improve police officer numbers in Barnet, giving our residents value for money in their policing.

b)   Spend more money on policing in Barnet.

4.            Work with the Violence Reduction Unit and local partners on the strategy for the new duty to prevent and reduce violent crime