Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Wednesday 18th November 2015

Police reform is working and that is due in no small part to the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by police officers and staff in the line of their duty.

This Government deeply values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by police officers up and down the country in the line of their duty.

This Government recognises that the reforms in policing have presented challenges for police officers, but it is equally clear that the police have risen to those challenges. In 2010, we faced the toughest fiscal challenge in living memory and this Government has had to take difficult decisions across the public sector, including in reforming the police. Throughout this significant time of change it has been clear that the programme of reform is about giving back operational control so that the police can do what they do best – get on with fighting crime.

There is no question that the police still have the resources to do their important work. HMIC has made clear that the police are successfully meeting the challenge of balancing their books while protecting the frontline and delivering reductions in crime.

Police reform is working and crime has fallen by 8 per cent year-on-year, according to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, and by more than a quarter since 2010. People, communities and property across the country are safer as a result.

The need for reform does not stop here, and the job is not yet finished. Reform over the next five years will mean working to understand and reduce demand on policing and facing up to the changing nature of crime and its impact on police forces.

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