'Joined-up approach' needed to fight crime, says mayor Street

Andy Street last week wrote to the Home Secretary asking that his role should be expanded to include responsibility for policing.

While the elected mayors for Greater Manchester and London hold such powers, in the West Midlands responsibility for policing goes to the commissioner.

Mr Street, the Conservative elected mayor for the West Midlands, is asking that the two roles be combined.

However, this has been met with opposition from the present commissioner, Labour's Simon Foster, who accused Mr Street of a 'hostile takeover' which went against the democratic will of the people who elected him.

Mr Street said crime had more than doubled over the past eight years, and that as mayor he would be in a stronger position to hold the West Midlands Police force to account.

"For a start, it would enable a more joined-up approach," said Mr Street.

"For example, we could consider crime prevention when allocating regeneration funding, enabling us to ‘design out’ crime and anti-social behaviour on our high streets.

"We could develop innovative skills programmes to rehabilitate offenders and tackle the root causes of crime. It would also allow a renewed, relentless focus on making our public transport network safer."

Mr Street said the mayor also had a broader range of powers to pull different public services together.

He added it would save costs by reducing the cost to the taxpayer of running separate offices. He added that he would not wish to be paid any extra for taking on the responsibilities.

Writing for the Conservative Home website, Mr Street said it would also create a single, directly-elected, point of accountability for the region.

"We have seen the success of this model in the West Midlands, with billions of pounds of investment – public and private – brought into the region as a direct result of the Mayoral Combined Authority model.

"It’s time we applied the same successful approach to crime and policing."

Mr Foster accused Mr Street of seeking to bypass democracy. He said there had been four elections for the role of commissioner since it was created in 2012, and on each occasion Labour had commissioners had been returned.

“That is because the mayor’s government is not trusted by the people of the West Midlands when it comes to crime, policing, community safety and criminal justice," he said.

“The mayor and his party have plainly calculated that the only way they can wrest control of policing governance in the West Midlands is to abolish democracy altogether.”

“It is nothing more than a hostile takeover," said Mr Foster.

“This cynical power grab is in no-one’s interests, save that of the Government and its West Midlands mayor."

But Mr Street said he fully respected the fact that Mr Foster had been elected commissioner, and that he should be allowed to complete his full term.

"Then, in May, voters will be able to choose via the ballot box a candidate for the mayoralty which will include police-and-crime-commissioner powers and responsibilities.

"This is not about politics, it’s about getting the structure of police governance right for our citizens, to end the worrying escalation we are seeing in local crime.

"We have tried the PCC model and for 12 years it has failed to deliver. It’s time for a change."

Mr Street said he was also unhappy about Mr Foster's announcement last month that 'at least 30' police stations in the West Midlands faced closure.

He pledged that if he was re-elected as mayor next year, with the added responsibility for policing, he would order an immediate moratorium on police station closures.

"It is too easy to point to budget pressures to try to explain away those soaring rates of crime," he said.

"Everywhere else has faced similar financial challenges, yet we are facing a more acute rise in crime rates here that others are simply not.

"What’s more, in recent years our force has actually seen an increase in funding, with recruitment significantly boosting police numbers."