‘Give the police their pay rise’

Jan 26 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

NORTH MPs last night urged the Government to climb down in the row over police pay after Tyne and Wear and Northumberland saw a massive drop in crime.

The Northumbria force announced a 16.7% fall in total crime for the period April-December 2007, compared to the same period in 2006, a drop of more than 2,000 crimes a month.

Violent crime was down 19.9%, with violence against the person down 15.1%, total vehicle crime down 17.6% and criminal damage down by 19.4%.

The MPs said people had reason to fear crime less, particularly where their own property is at stake, as the figures reported robberies and house burglaries had fallen by a quarter.

National figures released on Thursday showed a 21% rise in drugs offences and a 4% rise in gun crime – but Northumbria’s statistics showed an 8.1% fall in drug offences and a 10.9% fall in gun crime.

Commending the police for the figures, the MPs said police deserved their full pay award, at the end of a week that saw 23,000 police officers, including 400 officers from Northumbria and 120 from Durham, march on London.

The protest came after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith introduced their pay rise from last month rather than backdating it to April, against the ruling of an independent arbitration panel, effectively reducing their pay rise from 2.5% to 1.9%.

Last night Tory Hexham MP Peter Atkinson said: “We’ve had years of steady progress in Northumbria. That’s down to the police and the way they police the region.

“Fear of crime is one of the biggest problems and these figures go to reassure people they need not fear crime as much as they do.”

Mr Atkinson said his party would introduce measures that would prevent the Government departing from an agreed pay settlement without a Parliamentary vote.

Blaydon’s Labour MP Dave Anderson added: “I think we’ve handled this atrociously as a Government. The money is almost irrelevant – it’s the lack of faith.

“What the police have been doing here for a number of years is to be commended. There’s also much more cooperation between local authorities and the police – all these people seem to be pulling in the same direction.”

And Berwick Lib Dem MP Alan Beith said: “These are very encouraging figures and should help to reduce the fear of crime that so many people have.

“A lot of effort has been put in by the police and by community organisations cooperating with the police to help bring these figures down.

“This is another reminder of just how foolish the Government was to deny police the full independent pay award.”

Speaking about the figures, Northumbria’s Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup said: “These are excellent results and a credit to the hard work of all our staff and, in particular, frontline police officers.”

Russ Watson, chairman of Northumbria Police Federation, said: “To say that we’re not working when the prisons are full to overflowing and then to hit us with what’s effectively a stab in the back with the pay deal for 2007 doesn’t give our members the impression that they’re well thought of.

“It will be difficult for our members to swallow the fact that we’re still in a pay dispute for 2007, and for these figures to show that we’re protecting the public to the best of our ability.”

The Home Office said the Home Secretary would be meeting with the Police Federation to discuss a multi-year pay deal for the future.