Neighbourhood policing matters | Burnley MP Oliver Ryan column

Hello all!

I hope you're doing well.

First of all, a quick good luck to all the students across Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield who have been sitting their GCSEs and A Levels recently. I've visited several schools over the past few weeks and it's been great to see the hard work being put in by so many young people. I know exam season can be stressful, but I wish everyone the very best of luck.

When I'm out speaking to residents, or looking in my comment section, one issue comes up time and time again: feeling safe in our communities. Whether it's anti-social behaviour, shoplifting, nuisance motorbikes or crime in our town centres, people want to know that the police are visible, responsive and able to act when problems arise.

That's why neighbourhood policing matters so much.

These are the officers and PCSOs we see on our streets every day. They're the police officers who know our communities and tackle the issues that affect us most directly. When neighbourhood policing is working well, people feel safer and have confidence that concerns won't be ignored.

That's why the Government's commitment of £200 million for neighbourhood policing this year is so important. Lancashire Constabulary will receive more than £5 million of additional funding as part of that investment.

This is just the first step in a wider plan to put 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles by the end of this Parliament. We're already starting to see the results, with more than 3,000 additional neighbourhood police recruited nationally. It’s clear the difference a Labour Government makes.

Let's be honest though: we're starting from a difficult position.

During the 14 years of Conservative government, more than 18,000 police officers disappeared from our streets. Communities across the country felt the impact, including here in Burnley. People lost confidence that crimes would be investigated, and we've all felt the increase in anti-social behaviour.

And let’s not forget some of the politicians who helped oversee those cuts are now sitting on the benches under the banner of Reform UK, claiming they can fix the very problems they helped create in the first place.

I don't know about you, but I don’t think our police need more slogans or political stunts. I think they deserve investment, recruitment and a government that backs them to do their job.

That's exactly what Labour is delivering.

Alongside investing in neighbourhood policing, we've also passed the new Crime and Policing Act. This includes through the new offence to assault retail workers and ending the effective immunity for thefts of £200 and under. This is whilst giving our police better tools to catch offenders, backed by £7 million over the next three years.

The truth is simple: people feel safer when policing is visible. They feel safer when officers are on the streets rather than behind desks. Let’s make sure our police force don’t get hollowed out any further – we can’t backslide to the way things have been for the past decade.

There's still plenty more work to do, but after years of cuts we're finally moving in the right direction. Burnley under this Government is better off – from more police on our streets, to better investment in those who protect us.

As always, if you have any issues get in touch by dropping me an email at [email protected] or by attending a drop in with a caseworker between 10am – 2pm from Monday – Thursday.