Agenda item

8.1

It was moved by Councillor Ben Miskell, and seconded by Councillor Jayne Dunn, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the increasing pressures facing South Yorkshire Police (SYP) highlighted by recent information obtained by Louise Haigh MP which revealed SYP received 851,401 calls last year and already this year, as of September 2017, the Force has received 510,147 calls; overall since 2010 the number of calls in both emergency and non-emergency cases to police have increased year on year;

(b)       notes that official figures show that since 2010, and the forming of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, SYP have 458 fewer police officers, with 2,974 employed in 2010 compared to 2,516 today, despite the fact that the Force now deals with an average of 53,359 non-emergency calls a month, up from 30,694 in 2010;

(c)        supports the warnings of the Labour Party that, nationally, police forces are reaching a breaking point, and completely condemns the Liberal Democrats for their complicity, whilst part of the Coalition Government, in the wide ranging cuts experienced by forces up and down the country and here in Sheffield;

(d)       believes that the Government should rethink their strategy for policing and adopt Labour’s 2017 manifesto commitment; pledging to put 10,000 additional police on to the streets of England and Wales, to be paid for by reversing planned cuts to capital gains tax;

(e)       highlights that the seven year pay cap for police officers has seen morale collapse and that officers are £6,000 per year worse off in real terms, with wages failing to keep pace with inflation, and believes that lifting the pay cap will help to reward officers fairly, increase morale and officer retention rates and, ultimately, lead to a better standard of policing throughout the country;

(f)        derides the meagre one-off 1% lump sum pay rise being given by the Rt. Hon. Theresa May, MP’s government to the police for the next year; noting that this one-off rise makes police pay still far below inflation which stands at 2.9% and is well short of the 5% pay increase being asked for by unions to help mitigate the extensive period of real term pay cuts already undertaken;

(g)       supports unions and others who have called the Government’s offer ‘pathetic’ and believes that it is a damning indictment of the Conservative Party that they make tax cuts for the very richest whilst failing to give public servants a fair pay;

(h)       believes that in such austere times it is vitally important that police forces seek new innovations and praise should be given to SYP, The Sheffield Community Safety Partnership and the other SY community partnerships, for funding a new off-road Bike Unit to tackle the issue of off road biking in Sheffield;

(i)         notes that whilst the Council has no direct powers over policing, Councillors within the Administration have been working with local communities to forward their concerns, and that off road biking has been a prominent issue of late and that improved police efforts to deal with this blight are greatly welcome;

(j)         welcomes the SYP’s new neighbourhood policing model, with its key emphasis on tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, and focus on problem solving and crime prevention through enhancing local intelligence gathering; it is hoped that police officers will work collaboratively with partner agencies to provide a bespoke service that best meets the needs of each community, with an increased focus on utilising early partnership based intervention;

(k)        believes that SYP’s new neighbourhood policing model could be a big step forward for local policing but that, without proper government funding, policing in South Yorkshire will remain stretched; and

(l)         gives assurances that Councillors will continue to work closely in the communities they serve to make sure the police are responding appropriately and sufficiently to local issues.

8.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Joe Otten, and seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion of paragraphs (a) to (k) and the re-lettering of paragraph (l) as a new paragraph (j); and

2.         the addition of new paragraphs (a) to (i) as follows:-

(a)       commends the officers of the South Yorkshire Police for their service on the front line of the fight against crime and terrorism, often placing themselves in harm’s way to protect us;

(b)       recognises the challenges caused by ongoing budgetary and pay restraint, believes this has gone too far, and fears that unless Brexit is prevented, never mind a hard or a 'no deal' Brexit, there will be yet less money available to the Treasury for public services, including police, in the future; nonetheless welcomes Liberal Democrat proposals for £300m extra police funding, meaning £6,810,000 extra for South Yorkshire;

(c)        notes that 999 calls to South Yorkshire Police fell in 2012 and 2013 on the previous years, and did not exceed 2011 levels until 2016;

(d)       notes that non-emergency calls to South Yorkshire Police fell in 2012 and 2016 on the previous year, but showed a substantial discontinuous increase in 2014 for reasons that are not entirely clear, but in a manner suggestive of an operational or recording change or a change in public awareness of the service;

(e)       notes that South Yorkshire Police also faces cost pressures from a number of legacy issues including Hillsborough and CSE, and that Police and Crime Commissioner Billings spent over £500,000 in legal fees and other expenses on a failed attempt to dismiss Chief Constable David Crompton, a decision described by the High Court as “irrational, perverse, unreasonable, misconceived and wholly disproportionate”;

(f)        believes that the Labour Members of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, at its meeting on 7th July 2017, effectively closed ranks in not allowing a question to be put to Dr Billings, viz why his legal case against Mr Crompton did not address the issue of the conduct of police counsel at the Hillsborough Inquest, this being a principal grievance of the Hillsborough families;

(g)       notes that the most recent (2016) Peel assessment of South Yorkshire Police indicates that the Force 'requires improvement' in all three areas assessed, a decline from 2015 and 2014;

(h)       believes that the decision by Dr Billings and Chief Constable Crompton to integrate neighbourhood and response teams represented in practice an abolition of neighbourhood policing, that this was a false economy and has increased demand on response teams and led to a loss of intelligence;

(i)         welcomes the reversal of this decision under Chief Constable Watson, and calls on all Councillors and relevant community groups to engage constructively with the new neighbourhood policing model; and

8.3

Following debate on the matter under consideration, and a right of reply from Councillor Ben Miskell, the amendment was put to the vote and negatived.

8.4

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried as follows:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)       notes the increasing pressures facing South Yorkshire Police (SYP) highlighted by recent information obtained by Louise Haigh MP which revealed SYP received 851,401 calls last year and already this year, as of September 2017, the Force has received 510,147 calls; overall since 2010 the number of calls in both emergency and non-emergency cases to police have increased year on year;

(b)       notes that official figures show that since 2010, and the forming of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, SYP have 458 fewer police officers, with 2,974 employed in 2010 compared to 2,516 today, despite the fact that the Force now deals with an average of 53,359 non-emergency calls a month, up from 30,694 in 2010;

(c)        supports the warnings of the Labour Party that, nationally, police forces are reaching a breaking point, and completely condemns the Liberal Democrats for their complicity, whilst part of the Coalition Government, in the wide ranging cuts experienced by forces up and down the country and here in Sheffield;

(d)       believes that the Government should rethink their strategy for policing and adopt Labour’s 2017 manifesto commitment; pledging to put 10,000 additional police on to the streets of England and Wales, to be paid for by reversing planned cuts to capital gains tax;

(e)       highlights that the seven year pay cap for police officers has seen morale collapse and that officers are £6,000 per year worse off in real terms, with wages failing to keep pace with inflation, and believes that lifting the pay cap will help to reward officers fairly, increase morale and officer retention rates and, ultimately, lead to a better standard of policing throughout the country;

(f)        derides the meagre one-off 1% lump sum pay rise being given by the Rt. Hon. Theresa May, MP’s government to the police for the next year; noting that this one-off rise makes police pay still far below inflation which stands at 2.9% and is well short of the 5% pay increase being asked for by unions to help mitigate the extensive period of real term pay cuts already undertaken;

(g)       supports unions and others who have called the Government’s offer ‘pathetic’ and believes that it is a damning indictment of the Conservative Party that they make tax cuts for the very richest whilst failing to give public servants a fair pay;

(h)       believes that in such austere times it is vitally important that police forces seek new innovations and praise should be given to SYP, The Sheffield Community Safety Partnership and the other SY community partnerships, for funding a new off-road Bike Unit to tackle the issue of off road biking in Sheffield;

(i)         notes that whilst the Council has no direct powers over policing, Councillors within the Administration have been working with local communities to forward their concerns, and that off road biking has been a prominent issue of late and that improved police efforts to deal with this blight are greatly welcome;

(j)         welcomes the SYP’s new neighbourhood policing model, with its key emphasis on tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, and focus on problem solving and crime prevention through enhancing local intelligence gathering; it is hoped that police officers will work collaboratively with partner agencies to provide a bespoke service that best meets the needs of each community, with an increased focus on utilising early partnership based intervention;

(k)        believes that SYP’s new neighbourhood policing model could be a big step forward for local policing but that, without proper government funding, policing in South Yorkshire will remain stretched; and

(l)         gives assurances that Councillors will continue to work closely in the communities they serve to make sure the police are responding appropriately and sufficiently to local issues.

8.4.1

(NOTE: 1. Councillors Andy Nash, Bob Pullin, Richard Shaw, Adam Hanrahan, Joe Otten, Martin Smith, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Paul Scriven, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Sue Auckland, Steve Ayris, Gail Smith, David Baker, Penny Baker and Vickie Priestley voted for paragraphs (a) and (e) to (l) of the Motion, and voted against paragraphs (b) to (d) of the Motion, and asked for this to be recorded;

2. Councillors Douglas Johnson, Robert Murphy and Alison Teal voted for paragraphs (j) to (l) of the Motion, and abstained from voting on paragraphs (a) to (i) of the Motion, and asked for this to be recorded; and

3. Councillors Jack Clarkson, Keith Davis and John Booker voted for paragraphs (a), (b) and (e) to (l) of the Motion, and voted against paragraphs (c) and (d) of the Motion, and asked for this to be recorded.)