'Police are not keeping people in Milton Keynes safe', claim councillors

A Thames Valley Police chief has been slammed for “failing to keep the public safe” during a row over CCTV.

Labour-led Milton Keynes City Council has accused Conservative Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber of “going back on his word” over CCTV funding.

The council accused him of a U-turn from what it said was his previous promise that it would not have to fund the Thames Valley CCTV Partnership.

The partnership went live earlier this month, with the first control room set up in Milton Keynes.

The authority’s response came after Mr Barber accused it of “pulling away” from the CCTV project this week, which he said was “disappointing”.

City councillor Jenny Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Public Realm claimed that Mr Barber had said on local radio two years ago that a “new innovative CCTV system would not cost Milton Keynes City Council any money” and would be funded by his office.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “He has since clearly reversed that position and unfortunately the City Council is not in a position to meet his ludicrous financial demands.”

The councillor added: “Ultimately the safety of the public of Milton Keynes is the primary job of the Police and Crime Commissioner and he is failing in that.”

The council responded to the Commissioner’s office saying this week that it is providing additional funding for the CCTV project, meaning the council would pay less than one-fifth of the costs over the next four years.

Mr Barber criticised Milton Keynes City Council for stating that it had “no additional revenue budget which can be allocated to CCTV” and called on the authority to commit to further investment in the project.

He said: “At a time I am increasing investment, the council seems to be pulling away from this important project despite its legal obligations for community safety and reducing violence.”

He added that he had increased funding for community safety provided directly to the council by 29 per cent over the past two years.

The commissioner added: “It is disappointing to the see the lack of commitment to CCTV, which is valued by residents.”

Mr Barber has told the council it would not have to make “any significant contribution until 2027/28” and urged the cabinet to provide future funding for the project.

In response, the council said it had already committed £250,000 to the project but could not afford to pay any more “after over a decade of Conservative-driven austerity”.

It said: “We are in a dire financial situation and are seeing a real terms Government funding reduction of £88m to our budget.

“We are having to make reductions in the headcount within our own organisation to balance the books, and at no point did we sign up to providing longer term funding for police staffing.”

It added: “For Mr Barber to suggest we are pulling away when we are delivering exactly what had been agreed is at best disingenuous.”