Motion Submitted by Councillor Hardy
To consider the following Motion submitted by Councillor Hardy:
Gun and Gang Crime
“Events in the last months have highlighted significant challenges to maintaining the safety of our communities and the confidence of the public in those agencies tasked with keeping them safe. This is a time of unprecedented challenges for agencies working in Community Safety Partnerships.
During recent months the country has faced three terror attacks and the terror level has reached “critical”. At the same time, the Liverpool City Region has seen seven firearms discharges in seven days, one of which resulted in the murder of an 18 year old boy, as well as having to deal with an English Defence League rally in Liverpool City Centre.
Individually, and separately, these issues have led to heightened fears of violence across the region; people are scared and more needs to be done by the Government to address this.
Years of severe austerity cuts to policing, local authority and other public sector budgets have made it harder for partners to take the steps required to identify and challenge those engaging in terror and some of the most serious criminal activity that is currently blighting our communities.
Since 2010, Merseyside Police has lost £84 million from its budget, and is still required to deliver a further £18 million savings before 2021/22. This equates, in real terms, to 1,022 less police officers in Merseyside than there were 7 years ago and the implementation of a functional model that moves away from the Neighbourhood Policing model that had served our communities so effectively and delivered year on year reductions in reported crime and anti-social behaviour.
At the same time the Government continues to impose significant cuts in funding for local authorities. By the end of 2017/18 the Council will have met a funding shortfall of approximately £200m since 2010 and by 2020 Sefton will have had a real terms cut in funding of 51%.
Given the amount of money already saved and the scale of the funding cuts still to come, the council is now in a position where it simply cannot continue to provide the same levels of service. Whilst every effort has been made to protect front-line services, this is becoming increasingly difficult. Many council services have already been reduced or stopped entirely. The council’s workforce has been reduced accordingly since 2010 and this impacts upon our ability to appropriately support the Community Safety agenda.
At this time appropriate funding is required to enable Merseyside Police and other partners involved in the Community Safety and Prevent agendas to identify and challenge those potentially involved in terrorism or those who engage in incidents of serious violence within our communities.
A reactionary approach alone is not sufficient and the Police and other agencies in the Liverpool City Region require additional funding to support prevention activity that seeks to work with those at risk of radicalisation or offending and to improve community cohesion in some of our hardest to reach communities.
This Council ... view the full agenda text for item 35
Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Hardy, seconded by Councillor Thomas following debate, unanimously
RESOLVED:
Gun Crime and Funding
Events in the last months have highlighted significant challenges to maintaining the safety of our communities and the confidence of the public in those agencies tasked with keeping them safe. This is a time of unprecedented challenges for agencies working in Community Safety Partnerships.
During recent months the country has faced three terror attacks and the terror level has reached “critical”. At the same time, the Liverpool City Region has seen seven firearms discharges in seven days, one of which resulted in the murder of an 18 year old boy, as well as having to deal with an English Defence League rally in Liverpool City Centre.
Individually, and separately, these issues have led to heightened fears of violence across the region; people are scared and more needs to be done by the Government to address this.
Years of severe austerity cuts to policing, local authority and other public sector budgets have made it harder for partners to take the steps required to identify and challenge those engaging in terror and some of the most serious criminal activity that is currently blighting our communities.
Since 2010, Merseyside Police has lost £84 million from its budget, and is still required to deliver a further £18 million savings before 2021/22. This equates, in real terms, to 1,022 less police officers in Merseyside than there were 7 years ago and the implementation of a functional model that moves away from the Neighbourhood Policing model that had served our communities so effectively and delivered year on year reductions in reported crime and anti-social behaviour.
At the same time the Government continues to impose significant cuts in funding for local authorities. By the end of 2017/18 the Council will have met a funding shortfall of approximately £200m since 2010 and by 2020 Sefton will have had a real terms cut in funding of 51%.
Given the amount of money already saved and the scale of the funding cuts still to come, the council is now in a position where it simply cannot continue to provide the same levels of service. Whilst every effort has been made to protect front-line services, this is becoming increasingly difficult. Many council services have already been reduced or stopped entirely. The council’s workforce has been reduced accordingly since 2010 and this impacts upon our ability to appropriately support the Community Safety agenda.
At this time appropriate funding is required to enable Merseyside Police and other partners involved in the Community Safety and Prevent agendas to identify and challenge those potentially involved in terrorism or those who engage in incidents of serious violence within our communities.
A reactionary approach alone is not sufficient and the Police and other agencies in the Liverpool City Region require additional funding to support prevention activity that seeks to work with those at risk of radicalisation or offending and to improve community cohesion in some of our hardest to ... view the full minutes text for item 35