4 hours ago
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Police officers in England and Wales would spend more time on the streets under sweeping reform plans to be outlined on Monday.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will pledge to cut "red tape" and "unnecessary admin" that she says prevents officers from leaving their stations.
She will also promise faster response times for emergencies by setting a national standard for 999 calls.
Mahmood said: "People are reporting crimes and then waiting hours or even days for a response."
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said "it's hard to take Labour's promises seriously when they have stripped more than 1,300 officers from the front line in our communities".
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said the government "must deliver" on its promises and "get more officers back onto our streets".
The reform plans would see police forces required to respond to emergencies in urban areas within 15 minutes, and within 20 minutes in rural areas.
Most forces already have response targets, but the Home Office said there was currently no way of holding them accountable if they do not meet that standard.
Failure to reach targets would see the home secretary sending in experts from high performing forces to help improve response times.
John Hayward-Cripps, chief executive of Neighbourhood Watch, said the new targets would be a "welcome step forward" towards the "basic expectation that police will respond when you report a crime".
Mahmood will also say she wants to change how staffing levels are funded amid concern the current 'officer maintenance grant' encourages some forces to employ uniformed officers in administrative roles such as IT or human resources.
The targets are part of the government's plans for sweeping changes to policing in England and Wales.
Many of the changes have already been announced by the government in the run-up to Monday's announcements. These include:
- A new National Police Service to free up local forces in tackling everyday crime. The new service will take over responsibility for counter-terror, fraud and organised crime investigations
- Plans for every police officer in England and Wales to hold a licence to be able to continue working. They will have to prove they have the right skills in issues such as tackling violence against women and girls or face being removed from their job
- The number of police forces will also be reduced, cutting them from the current 43. No official figure has been given for what will remain, but police chiefs have been calling for the creation of 12 "mega forces".
