Chairman continues to push Parliamentarians on policing

ESSEX Police Federation continues to highlight the pressures officers are under due to police funding cuts in meetings with local members of Parliament.

Since the General Election in June, Chairman Steve Taylor has carried on his continual series of meeting with the county’s MPs, where one of the other topics he continues to highlight is the #ProtectTheProtectors campaign.

Over the past few weeks Steve has met with Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow, Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest and once again with Rebecca Harris, MP for Castle Point. He plans to keep trying to meet all MPs.

Steve said: “Since the new Parliament was formed we’ve redoubled efforts to reach out and build relationships with our local MPs. One of the main messaged has been around police funding. We would like to see equity in how Essex is funded. Historically it’s the cheapest force in the country, when you take the precepts and the government grants.

“And while the precept is in local hands with PCC Roger Hirst, and he has plans to increase that, he tells us, from an MP’s point of view, the actual Government grant is unfair, and we think Essex is penalised for being historically successful in fighting crime and reducing crime.”

Steve said it was important to get this message across to MPs if and when redistribution of police grants comes from the Government.

He added: “We have also been putting a local perspective on the #ProtectTheProtectors national Federation campaign. So, we have been talking about assaults officers suffer, levels of sickness, levels of abstraction from work. We talk about equipment and that body worn cameras and spit guards are areas we’ve had some real positive success in. And indeed Taser.”

What has the reaction been? Have MPs been making the right noises when it comes to policing?

“They have been making the noises you’d expect them to make,” added Steve. “They say they can’t give us more money. Whenever we’re saying we’d like more money for this or we’d like to see more money for that, the stock answer is, ‘Well it’s austerity, there simply isn’t money there to have’. So we talk about all the ways in which Essex officers are doing more with less.

“We can demonstrate what we’re trying to do, and that we’re trying to cover more and more and more, and we’re stretching to breaking point. And whilst the organisation isn’t broken, individuals in it are. And it’s a nice way of us getting into that mental health conversation as well – as officers are suffering.”