I had an interesting morning, listening to a public evidence session held by the Home Affairs Select Committee. I attended in my capacity as Safer Communities spokesperson for the Lib Dems locally.
The Committee was on a visit to Reading as part of their inquiry into Policing for the 21st Century. This follows a visit to Reading yesterday by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, to look at Neighbourhood Policing in action.
She could have visited any part of Reading, but she decided to tour the marginal Labour ward of Abbey for some reason.
Given that Martin Salter MP is closely linked with both the Committee (he is a member), and Mrs Smith (he used to be her PPS), it's pretty obvious that both these visits were designed to raise the profile of Reading Labour Party, ahead of a crucial set of elections on 1 May.
It's worth pointing out, however, that Reading town centre (and Redlands ward) are in Reading East constituency, which is represented by another MP we don't see very much.
As I've written before, Reading Borough Council is the last Labour Council in the South East and is clearly on the Party's critical list. I won't be at all surprised if more Labour ministers drop in for a visit in the next few days.
Anyway, the evidence session was very interesting, with a large amount of time devoted to the real issue of recruitment and retention of Police officers in the Thames Valley.
A representative of the Thames Valley Police Federation commented 'Thames Valley Police is the training ground for the Metropolitan Police'. There is a shortage of experienced officers in our area as they are drawn to work in London (attracted by the free train travel) and increased pay. This means that we have less experienced officers in the Reading area as more specialists leave to work for the Met.
Lack of affordable housing and other costs of living hit our local Police officers hard. In 2001, the South Eastern Regional Allowance of £2,000 was introduced for all officers who had been in the Police force since 1994. This allowance has not been increased since then. This clearly needs to change and the Lib Dems will continue to support our local Police in their campaign for fair funding and fair pay.
There followed a short discussion on the impact of Neighbourhood Policing in Reading that only really scratched the surface. There was afterwards a very short amount of time for public questions. I asked Sara Thornton , Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police what could be done to improve the Police's anti-social behaviour hotline (o845 8 505).
At present, If you report a crime via this number you get through to a call-centre based outside Reading. Call operators do not know the local area and they do not tell callers whether a local Police officer will attend the scene. Residents have told me that they have found reporting crimes this way deeply unsatisfactory and that it might well put them off reporting crimes to the Police in the future.
The other problem we have in Reading is the fact that there are two anti-social behaviour hotlines, with another line being run by RBC. This just adds to the confusion.
Jacqui Smith said earlier this year that Neighbourhood Policing would mean that people would be able to get the mobile phone numbers of their local Police team.This hasn't happened in Reading where Neighbourhood Policing has recently been rolled out.
Sara Thornton replied that she was aware of the issue and that Thames Valley Police would shortly be changing its policy which would meant that local Police officers would attend the scene of crimes reported via the hotline. This is welcome news.
The most surreal moment of the day came at the end of the session when Martin Salter was presented with a birthday cake! Overall a worthwhile event, however.
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