'What has the PCC been doing?': City Tory leader reacts to West Midlands Police report

Conservative party leader at Wolverhampton council Wendy Thompson has slammed police officials after the authority was handed a third tier rating of ‘requires improvement’ by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) dropping down a grade from last year.

Councillor Thompson said: “West Midlands Police requires improvement in a number of areas and was inadequate in one area too.

“Meanwhile we have police stations being closed down, and police officers being taken away from the streets.

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“It’s going to cost us in Wolverhampton an extra £12 in council tax too, you have to wonder what has the police and crime commissioner been doing?

“The message should be to him that this is not good enough and we expect better.

"Because we are paying more for less. I think it’s absolutely deplorable.

“This is not good enough from West Midlands Police.

"We know there are pressures but the PCC should be giving us better service than this.

"He owes it to us and he owes it to his police officers as well.

"I think they want to be part of a service that does a good job but the system does not allow them to do that.

“It’s disheartening to read. People want reassurance and when they have serious issues and want to contact their local police its important they are reassured they will get a good service.”

Councillor Phil Bateman, representing Wednesfield North at Wolverhampton council, reacted to the news with equal shock and disappointment and blamed the government for the amount of cuts they have forced the police to face.

The Labour councillor said: “None of this should come as a shock seeing as the police have been starved from finance from Central Government.

“Certainly people in the West Midlands will not be at all happy to read about this.

"And the people caught up in these areas that have been reported by HMIC as failing will be more than a little upset - which I completely understand.

“We need to have more resources in the West Midlands.

"So that the police force can deliver the sort of force and the sort of services that we all want as individuals and politicians. I’m highly critical of the resources and starvations that has been taken place for too long by this government.

"It brings me no pleasure to be able to make these sort of criticisms. But the police are there to protect and serve and that thin blue line is getting thinner by the day.

“It’s inevitable – there will be breaks in services that we all come to expect. We expect the police to deliver.”