New PCSOs will help cut crime

12.22.11pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 18th Apr 2007

I want thank all local residents who signed the petition organised by Mark Hunter, Cheadle's MP, and me objecting to the cut in Policing on our local streets. Both Mark and I have challenged the Prime Minister at Question Time to explain what his Government are doing, and we have now presented the petition, with over 5,000 names on it, to No 10.

The best answer Mr Blair could come up with was that as 70 extra police were going to be working on terrorism, taking 216 officers off the street was no problem! That's no help in Hazel Grove or Bramhall on a busy Saturday night. And Police numbers are now below the threshold set by the Chief Constable for effective policing across our area.

As well as taking the fight to the very top nationally, Liberal Democrats locally have been working hard to cut crime and anti social behaviour in Stockport. It was a key part of the Town Hall budget put forward by Liberal Democrat councillors. You may already have seen some of the new Police Community Support Officers ('PCSO's') walking our local streets, in their yellow jackets and flat caps. More should follow, and help to plug the gap left by the cut in full police officers. It is not the complete answer, but it will certainly help provide protection locally.

The astonishing thing is that Labour voted against these crime-fighting proposals, and Conservative councillors refused to vote one way or the other! Fortunately the budget was forced through by the Liberal Democrats. If you happen to see a representative of the other parties in the next week or two, you may want to ask them why they chose not to support such an important crime-fighting initiative. They certainly haven't been able to explain it to me.

Keeping our communities safe is a crucial responsibility of both national and local government, and I am proud that once again it has been the Liberal Democrats leading the fight to cut crime in our area.

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