Put bobbies on the beat or lose cash, Starmer tells police forces

Telegraph

10-04-2025

Police forces will have to guarantee extra patrols of bobbies on the beat at 'peak' times or lose their additional government cash, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
On Friday, the Prime Minister will unveil details of Labour's neighbourhood policing guarantee, which will pledge that every community will have dedicated teams that will spend their time on the beat.
From July, all forces will be expected to guarantee police patrols in town centres and other 'hotspot' areas at peak times, such as Friday and Saturday nights in town centres or market days in rural communities.
A Labour source said the guarantee would be monitored by HM Inspectorate of Police, and that forces that failed to meet the commitment would lose the extra money.
The Government has handed police in England and Wales £200 million to kick-start the recruitment of 13,000 more neighbourhood police to deliver the guarantee. As promised in the Labour manifesto, it will also see every neighbourhood having a named and contactable officer.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: 'For too long, too many communities have been feeling abandoned as crime soared and neighbourhood police disappeared, even when local crimes like shop theft, street theft or blatant drug dealing rose sharply.
'It should not matter where you live – everyone deserves local, visible policing they can trust, and with our Plan for Change and neighbourhood policing guarantee, we will tackle this postcode lottery and restore policing to our communities.'
Every force will have to appoint a senior officer to take responsibility for overseeing its efforts to combat anti-social behaviour, including drawing up an action plan.
Neighbourhood officers will have to be trained to a set standard on how to tackle anti-social behaviour, based on courses from the College of Policing.
They will have new powers under legislation currently before Parliament to deploy respect orders – a revamped form of Sir Tony Blair's Asbos – against adults for street drinking, drug use, harassment and intimidating behaviour.
Officers will be able to ban them from town centres, high streets and local parks, and order them to undergo rehabilitation such as attending drug or alcohol treatment services or anger management courses.
Offenders who breach the orders and return to the areas they have been banned from or fail to attend their treatment will face up to two years in jail, unlimited fines and community orders such as unpaid work and curfews.
Policing 'postcode lottery'
No 10 said the plans would mean that, for the first time in 15 years, communities would be able to hold forces to account and expect a minimum standard for solving crimes, including violence against women, knife offences, robbery and theft.
A new police performance unit will aim to end the 'postcode lottery' in which some forces are up to six times more likely to charge an offender for a crime such as shoplifting than other constabularies.
The unit will monitor time spent on the front line, collect force-level data by crime type to give a clearer picture of local performance and hold forces to account on key metrics, including call and incident response times.
The public will be able to monitor the performance of their local force using a new online government tool. Where necessary, turnaround teams will be sent in to drive specific improvements.
Sir Keir said: 'Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure on the streets they call home. It is just about the most basic right that anyone would expect. Yet for years, crimes such as shoplifting and anti-social behaviour have wreaked havoc on our neighbourhoods. Policing has become reactive, picking up the pieces after crimes have occurred.
'Britain deserves better. It should not matter where you live – everyone deserves local, visible policing they can trust, and with our neighbourhood policing guarantee, we will end this postcode lottery, putting prevention back at the heart of policing and ensuring police are back on the streets.'
However, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'Thanks to Labour's jobs tax, our police services face a £118 million shortfall, putting over 1,800 police jobs at risk. What's more, the Metropolitan Police are cutting 1,700 jobs and services, including moving officers out of schools, making our streets and schools less safe.
'The previous Conservative government delivered record police officers, but law and order is taking a backseat under Labour. They must urgently get a grip to ensure our police have the resources they need to cut crime and keep the British people safe.'