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Police figures spark red tape row
06.07.09
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The Home Office has been accused of "manipulating" figures to hide a rise in the time police officers spend on paperwork.
Figures given to the Tories in response to a Parliamentary question show the proportion of the day spent on the front line rising from 63.6% in 2003/4 to 64.9% in 2007/08.
But that figure includes time spent on "incident-related paperwork" which went up from 10.3% to 12.4% in the same period.
Excluding that meant time on the front line actually dropped from 53.3% to 52.5%, the figures showed.
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling told The Daily Telegraph: "These figures will come as no surprise to any front line police officer, but it just beggars belief that the Government is yet again manipulating figures to make a false claim that things are getting better.
"We'll only tackle policing problems properly when we really do get rid of all the red tape they have to deal with, and not when ministers pretend that's happening."
Paul McKeever, the chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, told the newspaper: "It is disappointing that the Government seems intent on pulling the wool over the public's eyes where statistics are concerned."
Reducing red tape is among the aims of a Policing, Crime and Private Security Bill unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month as part of the Government's legislative programme. It follows a long series of initiatives aimed at reducing paperwork.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The Government is determined to slash red tape to free up more police officers' time so they concentrate on doing the job of tackling crime and protecting local communities."
Scrapping a time sheet had freed up 260,000 hours, handheld devices to allow officers to file data without returning to the station had given a extra 30 minutes on the frontline per shift and a foot-long "stop and account" form had been axed, she said.
Reader views (1)
Gormless Brown and the likes of Meddlesum (who has TWICE been removed from the Cabinet)think they are clever at manipulating everything and anything to do with government statistics, in an attempt to deceive Joe Public.
I last saw a police officer at street level 4 YEARS AGO.
JOE PUBLIC HAS LABOUR WELL AND TRULY SUSSED.
- Reuben Camara, Republic of Morecambe, UK
