The real problems in the police force aren’t at the lower levels. A £23,000 salary is not, to my mind, outrageous for a new recruit. No, the real problems lie further up the hierarchy. The Labour years of government saw a massive swelling of the top and middle of the police pyramid and the introduction of bureaucracy to an unprecedented level. Everything was about targets, which meant that most police-work turned into an exercise in filling out paperwork and manipulating figures. Middle-managers abounded.
That’s what really needs reforming. We need to go back to a culture of real police-work, not pen-pushing. Now, there are moves being made towards that. There are reforms being brought forward to ensure that pay is related to ability rather than time served. There are plans to allow chief constables to make redundancies and ensure the quality of officers is the highest it can be. That’s all good, common sense stuff. So why does the focus instead seem to be on the pay cuts? Inevitably, this seems to be yet another example of mis-management by Downing Street and the Home Office. Put bluntly, the Prime Minister and his advisors have no real-world experience. They’ve never run anything except charity marathons, which is why so many of our policies seem to get hi-jacked so quickly. They don’t take control of announcements; projects aren’t seen through from beginning to end; the media response isn’t anticipated.
The narrative of the police reforms should be about cutting out the dead wood and putting the emphasis on real policing. Instead, we’ll most likely be lambasted for attacking the bobbies-on-the-beat – the junior officers who do the bread-and-butter policing on our streets. All this makes me worry that David Cameron simply isn’t taking the next election seriously enough. The police are at the heart of Conservative voters concerns. We absolutely must ensure we remain the Party which voters can trust in that area. But, as he’s demonstrated time and again, the leader of the Conservative Party too often gives the impression that he’s not bothered about Conservative voters. He’d far rather pursue the fashionable causes of gay marriage and climate change, even if it means alienating the activists who are so crucial to any hope of being re-elected in 2015. The Police Crime Commissioners elections were a debacle. We cannot let these police reforms go the same way. David Cameron and Theresa May need to knuckle down and take control.
Brian, I agree that the Police Service is in dire need of reform particularly at the bureaucratic middle to higher levels following Labour’s indulgent and irresponsible years of swelling their ranks. Starting to make the cuts at the opposite end to where they are most needed does not surprise me in the least, as the present Cabinet continues to display its COMPLETE LACK of real-world/business experience and moral fortitude when tough decisions are required.
ReplyDeleteWhat slashing the salaries for new young police recruits does indicate to me is that ALL lower level salaries in ALL industries & services will be going down over the next seven years as this country faces yet more huge waves of economic immigrants pouring into our country forcing wages down. The present (ELITE) Cabinet dare not tell the people of this country just how many may come and there are also great fears that many will be undesirable criminal sorts. Ironically we may need many more, young bobbies-on-the-beat when this happens and the places will be filled by immigrants (used to working for £1 an hour) who will regard the salary as their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This extra burden will delay our financial recovery for many years.
Once they have a job, which they will secure because they will be prepared to work for much lower returns than our native people could possibly consider financially viable they will then be able to claim all government benefits, housing, NHS, etc. Native UK people, in particular, the working class but increasingly middle classes as well, will continue to be punished by the EU open border policy which Labour, Lib-Dem and Conservative parties STILL support. Many will never be able to leave home to be financially independent – how the great EU project has blighted peoples’ lives will be dissected in future years.
This present Cabinet eventually removed Ken Clarke as Minister of Justice because he had made such a pig’s ear of the job; we have vast numbers of criminals presently walking the streets, re-offending and avoiding jail because of his policies – he has blood on his hands and when the next wave comes it will only get worse. There is a serious lack of prison spaces and money to build more which was behind Ken’s disastrous and irresponsibly lenient policy. The Tory party has lost the Law & Order badge in spectacular fashion.
This Cabinet also created the positions of Police Commissioners PLUS their very well paid deputies (I believe the Northampton enclave is the worst in this respect) which has just added to the bureaucracy of the service and the tax that UK voters pay to government.
I implore everyone to vote UKIP to bring about the changes this country desperately needs, these are the changes which the other three main parties will not face.
The biggest decision is getting OUT of the EU - that would be a very fine start to improving this country's lot.
ps. All the very best for 25th
As a police or police reforms everybody need a affluent training course for managed Properly. That’s what really needs reforming. It need just a gentle training towards their courses. We need to go back to a culture of real police-work, not pen-pushing. Now, there are moves being made towards that. There are reforms being brought forward to ensure that pay is related to ability rather than time served.
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