Creating Safer Communities for All—Improving the Quality of Life for the People of Wales (Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats)

Creating Safer Communities for All—Improving the Quality of Life for the People of Wales

January 17, 2012 4:10 PM
By Peter Black

It is important to remember that it is not just the Home Office or the Welsh Government that help to improve community safety. Local councils, in particular, work very closely with local police forces to deliver initiatives in this regard. PCSOs are not the only solution to improving community safety, although, clearly, the additional 500 PCSOs-if they are being brought in in this financial year-are very welcome and an important addition to that work. In some areas, people are well served by PCSOs, particularly in areas where additional PCSOs are being funded locally. For example, in Wrexham, the council has funded 47 posts, one for each ward in the county. This has helped to provide a dedicated local presence on the streets. There are other initiatives that can be taken to improve community safety. For example, Cardiff has done a great deal of work to introduce alley gates that close off dark alleyways that have the potential to attract anti-social behaviour and which can be an access point for burglars. Cardiff has also introduced taxi marshals who work at the end of the night to help reduce potential incidents while people are queueing for taxis-an initiative that has been copied elsewhere in Wales.

Local licensing committees, working with the police, can have a great effect on reducing crime and increasing community safety by, for example, ensuring that venues provide plastic glasses on occasions when there is potential for trouble and staggering bar closing times so that there is no great influx of people on to the streets at particular times. The police appreciate that this reduces the possibility of crime and enables them to police the streets safely at night. Certainly, Swansea's licensing scheme for bouncers on the doors of pubs and clubs is an exemplar. Swansea has also done a great deal of work as one of the first areas in Wales to introduce closed circuit television. The work that it has done on that has helped the police to manage the problems in the city centre at night, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights when things are particularly difficult around Wind Street and other parts of that area.

This motion is important, and I certainly agree that we should be noting the work carried out by the Welsh Government and others on community safety. I concur with the Minister on the domestic abuse agenda, which has had all-party support in the past, as have other initiatives to do with women's safety and trafficking. Dealing with those is a particularly important preoccupation of many Assembly Members here.

Reference has been made to the amount of money that police forces have had. Ann Jones made an intervention while Mark Isherwood was speaking earlier. I agree with Mark. Ed Balls has clearly indicated that he supports the cuts that have been brought in by the UK Government. That is an important admittance on the part of the Labour Party, because it accepts-

Jenny Rathbone: Will you give way?

Peter Black: Let me just finish. The problems that the previous Government brought in-

The Deputy Presiding Officer: Order. Will the Member please sit down. Only one Member can speak at any one time.

Peter Black: The problems brought in by the previous Government with regard to its economic policy have had an impact and must be addressed. I am happy to give way to Jenny.

Jenny Rathbone: Can you clarify your comments, please? I do not think that Ed Balls is supporting the cuts that have been made, but recognising that they have already been made and that any incoming Labour Government would not be in a position to promise to simply reverse them, because the money may not be there.

Peter Black: I do not want to repeat what Mark Isherwood said, but Ed Balls admitted that Labour lacked credibility and warned that, even under his party, there would have to be cuts. He said:

'There would have to be difficult decisions. We would have to have cuts in police. We'd have to have cuts in the schools budget. We'd have to have cuts in the defence budget'.

Clearly, the Labour Party has moved from being in the wrong place to being all over the place, but the focus is there and he is absolutely right that things have to be done. The cuts in the police are part of that.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas: Are you making the case, Peter, that three of the four political parties here in the Assembly are now in favour of the cuts, and that the only political party that opposes the cuts is Plaid Cymru?

Peter Black: I do not like to intrude on Plaid Cymru's little fantasy land too much, Rhodri Glyn, but when you come to accept the reality of these things I am sure that people will start listening to you, too, and taking you seriously.

4.15 p.m.

It is important that we put the cuts in the police forces in context. We must, for example, remember the Wales Audit Office report last year, which identified that savings of £14 million could be found in Welsh police forces through civilianising police tasks and that between £24 million and £35 million in other efficiencies could be made without hitting front-line policing. We must also bear in mind that it is not the first time that there have been these cuts in the police forces, because, between 2007 and 2010, there was a cut of nearly 200 in front-line police officers in Wales, which was before the present Government came in.

The Deputy Presiding Officer: Order. Conclude your remarks now, please.

Peter Black: Under the previous Labour Government, there was a cut of £125 million in the money available to police forces. To conclude, the situation that we face is dire because of current economic circumstances, but, under those circumstances, many good initiatives are being put in place.

Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats