After a busy time in Westminster over the last few months,
Parliament has now risen for the Summer Recess. This means I will be spending
the rest of July and August working in our constituency. I look forward to
being out and about meeting with local people, businesses and community groups
in order to understand what matters to you and how I can best represent you as
your Member of Parliament.
Towards the end of last week it was good to spend time with
members of our emergency services. Firstly, I met with representatives from the
police, fire service and ambulance service to discuss the Tri Service Support
Officer (TSSO) role.
TSSOs are jointly funded by the police, fire service via
Cornwall Council and the NHS, and work across Cornwall. They are embedded in
local communities and are available to respond to urgent needs across all three
services. This often means a quicker response to help save lives, treat people,
solve incidents, and reduce demand on Cornwall’s three emergency services.
There are currently 13 TSSOs across Cornwall including in St
Dennis and Fowey, with more planned for our constituency in the months ahead.
As well as responding to urgent incidents, they also visit
homes, businesses, community venues and care homes to provide support and advice,
gather intelligence and be a visible presence in the community.
TSSOs also attended 604 police logs, responded to 493
ambulance calls, conducted 486 home risk reduction visits, and spent nearly
4000 hours on safeguarding activity.
Their presence also enabled fire engines to be available to
respond to emergencies 1207 hours more than if they weren’t in post.
The emergency services are looking to continue growing the
service in Cornwall, by increasing the number of Tri-Service officers to 20,
with recruitment starting subject to obtaining the necessary funding before the
end of 2023 and I will be doing all I can to support them in this.
Later in the day I went out with St Austell Police as an
observer on the late shift. Thanks to PC Jo Holmes for allowing me to accompany
her on patrol and see a wide variety of the actions that the police carry out over
the course of a shift.
It's always enlightening to spend time with the Police, and
it is important to ensure the Government gives them the tools they need to get
the job done.
In April of this year the Government fulfilled its
commitment to provide an additional 20,000 police officers nationally since
2019.
This included 600 more police officers for Devon and
Cornwall, making it easier for our police force to crack down on crimes and be
pro-active in tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour that I am often
contacted about.
Alongside this, the Government’s Beating Crime Plan will
deliver a safer Britain alongside record funding for our police, with a £17.2
billion policing budget for 2023–2024. This is alongside the Police, Crime,
Sentencing, and Courts Act which is giving the police and courts the powers
they need to tackle serious crime head on. The Government is also delivering
its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, backed by £100 million in
funding, making our streets and neighbourhoods safer for women and girls.
Since 2010, crime excluding fraud has been cut by over 50
per cent – making our communities safer. Theft has been reduced by 20 per cent
and domestic burglary by 30 per cent. The Government has also taken 90,000
knives off our streets through stop and search, surrender initiatives and
targeted police action since 2019.
I will continue to work with our local police force to
ensure they are fully represented, and with the Government as we give our
police and court systems the powers and resources they need to fight crime and
punish offenders appropriately.
If I can be of assistance or help on any matter, please get
in touch with my office on 01726 829379 or email office@stevedouble.org.uk
