Since the House of Commons debate in January where both of us called upon the Police & Crime Commissioner to commit to providing the south of the Solihull Borough with a permanent policing presence, the Police & Crime Commissioner is yet to make this commitment.
Engagement between us and the Police & Crime Commissioner can take place, but only when he makes it abundantly clear that he will commit to providing the south of the Solihull Borough with a permanent policing presence.
There is simply no excuse for the Police & Crime Commissioner. The Home Office will increase its funding settlement by £39.4m for the 2022/2022 financial year and the Solihull Borough pays more than its fair share in precept for the PCC. With this in mind, there is simply no financial argument to take our permanent policing base away from our constituents.
Losing our permanent policing base will have enormous consequences for all parts of our community, in particular, this will put an enormous amount of strain on Chelmsley Wood Police Station. Under the Police & Crime Commissioners proposals, Chelmsley Wood Police Station would serve over 215,000 residents.
We urge the Police & Crime Commissioner to commit to keeping a permanent policing presence for the south of the Solihull Borough.