Bexley Labour’s Group of councillors have expressed disappointment that Conservative councillors have once again refused to join them in calling for the Government to provide more resources for policing in London.

An amendment tabled by Bexley’s Labour councillors acknowledged that some crimes have increased not only in London but across the UK, and asked the Council to lobby the Home Secretary to provide adequate funding for the Metropolitan Police service and all police forces across the country, given the excessive cuts to police funding since 2010.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Mabel Ogundayo, Shadow Spokesperson for Communities said:

Bexley’s Conservative councillors have again refused to ask the Government to provide more funding for the Metropolitan Police. Given they had previously acknowledged 70% of police budgets in London are supplied by Central Government, their investment is crucial to assist the Mayor of London in tackling crime and its causes.

 

When we raised this issue with the Government directly, the Minister’s reply was ‘that the police can go substantially further in making efficiencies’ showing their belief that cuts can continue to be made to police budgets.

Cllr Daniel Francis, Leader of the Labour Group said:

When Boris Johnson left office as Mayor of London, statistics show there were less police officers in Bexley than he inherited and that he had closed two of the borough’s three police stations in Belvedere and Sidcup. Sadly, Bexley’s Conservative councillors were silent about these cuts. We have continually pressed for joint working with the Mayor to increase police numbers in London.

 

We welcome the news that as a result of the Mayor’s work that police numbers in London reached 32,100 in April 2020, the highest number for 8 years. We will continue to work with the Mayor to press for an increase in police numbers in Bexley despite the continued reluctance of Bexley Council to ask the Government to play their part in achieving this.

Despite Bexley’s Conservative councillors playing party politics and voting against Labour’s amendment, Labour councillors supported the substantive motion asking for more police officers in Bexley.

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