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The National
a day ago
- Health
- The National
Police Scotland urged to reject 'misogynistic' guidance on child death
Women's rights and human rights groups have condemned the UK National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) guidance on child death investigation as "disgraceful" and "misogynistic by design." The updated guidance encourages police to carry out what have been branded 'deeply intrusive investigations' into any unexpected pregnancy loss. READ MORE: World-first as new scanner for brain tumour patients trialled in Aberdeen It includes instructions on seizing women's digital devices to examine search histories and fertility app data, as well as advice on accessing medical records without a court order. Earlier this week the UK Parliament voted to halt criminal sanctions against women for terminating their own pregnancies via backing an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. However, as this legislation only relates to England and Wales, a lack of clarity remains on whether these guidelines could still apply or be used in Scotland, campaigners say. A group of 29 organisations have now written to Chief Constable Jo Farrell calling on Police Scotland to reject the new guidelines. The executive director of Engender, Catherine Murphy (below), said: 'Women now find themselves in the perilous situation where the laws governing abortion in Scotland have not kept up with advancements like abortion medicines and reproductive tracking apps. (Image: Contributed) 'Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Scottish Parliament need to act urgently to end the scope for prosecutions and bring the law into the 21st century. "The NPCC guidance describes women being targeted as 'criminal suspects' during one of the most sensitive and vulnerable experiences of their lives – pregnancy loss. It's unconscionable." The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists described the guidance as "shocking," and clinicians warn it creates a "climate of fear" among healthcare staff. "Women experiencing pregnancy loss need compassionate care, not criminal investigation," said Dr Sinead Cook, chair of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Scotland Committee. 'These methods violate fundamental rights to dignity, privacy and healthcare." The letter warns that marginalised communities – including those in poverty, women of colour, disabled women, migrants, young women, LBT+ people, and those in rural areas – would be disproportionately impacted by such investigations. "Police Scotland has a choice," said Jill Wood, policy manager at Engender. "They can follow the lead of health experts and human rights bodies, or they can adopt guidance that will cause demonstrable harm to women in Scotland. We urge them to choose compassion over criminalisation." Police Scotland has been approached for comment.
Telegraph
12-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Reeves dismisses Khan in row over police funding
Rachel Reeves has rejected claims made by Sir Sadiq Khan that her spending review will result in the number of police officers being cut. In her spending review on Wednesday the Chancellor announced a 2.3 per cent real-terms increase in police spending power. But the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said the funding settlement 'falls far short of what is required to fund the Government's ambitions and maintain our existing workforce'. Sir Sadiq, the Mayor of London, said he was concerned the spending review 'could result in insufficient funding for the [Metropolitan Police] and fewer police officers'. Asked if Sir Sadiq was wrong, the Chancellor told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'I really don't accept that there needs to be cuts when we are actually increasing the money that the police force gets.' Told about the NPCC's warning, Ms Reeves said: 'The police have been allocated a budget which has a real-terms increase of 2.3 per cent a year and they now need to live within those budgets.' Making 'sums add up' Ms Reeves said the police were getting a 'substantial' increase in spending power. She told BBC Breakfast: 'That [2.3 per cent] is a substantial increase and that is for every year of this spending review period, so for the next three years. 'So there is no reason for those numbers to decline. The spending power of police is going up substantially and the spending that we set out yesterday was an average across all parts of government of 2.3 per cent a year, and so policing are in line with that average across other government departments. 'But look, I wasn't able to say yes to everything that people asked for in the spending review. People always are going to want more whether it is in health, education, defence or indeed for policing. 'But my job as Chancellor is to make sure that the sums add up and we can't spend more than we have coming in.' Senior officers have warned that a lack of funds will put at risk Labour's promises to deploy an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers, as well as their pledge to halve violence against women and girls and reduce knife crime. The extra funding for the police is expected to amount to just £200 million in real-terms by the end of the decade.
Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
Public will pay price for police funding squeeze, say chiefs
Officer numbers will have to be cut as the public 'pay the price' for the lack of funding for policing in the spending review, police chiefs said. Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to restore neighbourhood policing is 'some way off' they said, after Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced that police funding would increase by £2.1 billion between 2026 and 2029 — an average real-terms increase of 1.7 per cent. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said this would leave a shortfall of £1.2 billion and lead to forces 'cutting headcount to balance the books'. The Police Federation said the public would 'pay the price', while the Police Superintendents' Association (PSA) accused the government of a 'shameful abandonment of the police service'. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is understood to be planning to review police funding in the autumn, when she will pressure the chancellor for extra money to meet Labour's pledge to recruit 13,000 police officers. Police chiefs said that without extra funding, the money would have to be found through rises in council tax or cuts to other policing services. Gavin Stephens, the NPCC chairman, said the funding rise would 'cover little more than annual inflationary pay increases' and that progress on the prime minister's key missions, such as halving violence against women and cutting knife crime, would be slower. Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said police numbers would fall, adding: 'I remain concerned that this spending review could result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers.' Starmer's promise to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood police officers was one of Labour's flagship policies in last year's general election. Paul Sanford, chairman of the NPCC's finance co-ordination committee, said: 'While we are looking at a 1.7 per cent increase, once pay is accounted for, once our non-pay pressures are accounted for, we think it will be incredibly difficult for the commitment to deliver the additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers within this funding envelope. 'We've made some progress. We have a good 3,000 already recruited but based on this settlement, that does look a real challenge for us … Certainly we are going to be some way off unless some significant levers are going to be pulled. Any further progress towards the 13,000 without new money would only come from making savings in our budgets.' Sanford said it was impossible to predict what the neighbourhood policing shortfall would be. Labour's initial announcement said the 13,000 officers would comprise 4,000 police community service officers, 3,000 special constables, 3,000 existing officers and 3,000 new police constables. Stephens added that 'the size and shape of the police workforce will inevitably have to change'. He said: 'The amount falls far short of what is required to fund the government's ambitions and maintain our existing workforce. This is against a backdrop of increasing crime rates, with new and escalating threats from organised crime and hostile states, and more offenders being managed in the community as a result of an overstretched criminal justice system.' Sanford said the overhaul of sentencing laws, which will scrap short prison sentences and release some prisoners after they have served just a third of their sentence, would pile further pressure on police budgets. Additional investment in the Probation Service to monitor offenders would take time to phase in, he said, leaving police to deal with the consequences of more criminals on the streets. 'There isn't any additional money to deal with that. This will increase the workload of police officers.' Tiff Lynch, acting national chairwoman of the Police Federation, accused the chancellor of failing to listen to police officers or the home secretary. She said: 'This spending review should have been a turning point after 15 years of austerity that has left policing, and police officers, broken. Instead, the cuts will continue — and it's the public who will pay the price. 'As rank-and-file officers kit up for night duty this evening, they'll do so knowing exactly where they stand in the government's priorities. It is beyond insulting for cabinet ministers to call on police to 'do their bit' when officers are overworked, underpaid and under threat like never before. 'They are facing blades and bricks, managing mental health crises, while battling to protect their own, and carrying the weight of trauma and financial stress home with them every day.' Nick Smart, president of the PSA, said it was a 'shameful abandonment of the police service' and warned that the government was failing in its first duty of keeping public safe. He said: 'Today's funding announcement is a huge blow to the police service, which has once again been placed at the bottom of the government's list of priorities. It is the first duty of government to keep its citizens safe, yet today we see no evidence of a commitment to doing this. 'Many of the government's election pledges centred around a commitment to 'safer streets', promising the public that it would meet ambitious targets such as halving knife crime. Yet the lack of investment announced today means we will continue to struggle to deliver the basics, to maintain officer numbers, cover inflationary costs, cover pay awards and function as we are, let alone move forward on new public safety and transformation initiatives.'
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Police leaders say they will struggle to fulfil Labour's promise to recruit 13,000 officers
Police forces will struggle to fulfil Keir Starmer's promise to recruit an additional 13,000 officers and the public will 'pay the price', police leaders have warned, after the chancellor outlined a decline in Home Office spending power on Wednesday. The National Police Chiefs' Council said it would be incredibly difficult to deliver the prime minister's election pledge within the lifetime of this parliament, with a projected £1.2bn shortfall in police funding expected to grow. The Police Federation said the consequences of the spending review were 'deeply worrying' and predicted cuts across the service. Rachel Reeves outlined plans for an average 2.3% rise in police spending a year, but the Home Office's spending will decline by 2.2% a year. Only two other departments will see a larger fall. Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford, who is head of the finance coordination committee of the NPCC, said the 2.3% increase announced by the government covers last year, leaving a 1.7% increase in funding for this spending review period. 'It will be incredibly difficult for the commitment to deliver the additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers to be delivered within this funding envelope,' he said. Forces were given £200m as a stand-alone grant this financial year towards the 13,000 recruitment, which will recruit 3,000 officer into neighbourhoods, he said. 'Any further progress that we make towards the 13,000 without new money would only come through delivering savings elsewhere in our budgets. We have had years of making savings from our budgets, and we think that that is remarkably challenging,' Sandford added. Before the election, Labour promised 13,000 extra police officers, PCSOs and special constables, which would bring the total police workforce to a level above its 2010 peak. Starmer repeated the pledge as a 'milestone' in December. Police sources told the Guardian there would be cuts in resources given to areas which have not been ringfenced by previous government pledges. Budgets to fight fraud, which makes up more than 40% of all crime affecting people over 16 in England and Wales, are vulnerable to cuts. One source said: 'This government has placed emphasis, quite rightly, on community policing, violence against women and girls, knife crime, county lines and violent crimes. You have to look at that and think that fraud, which is a growth area for criminals, is going to face cuts.' It will be decided in December how money will be shared between the 43 forces in England and Wales. The pay settlement to be given to officers is also not yet known. Acting national chair of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, accused Reeves of failing to listen to police officers or the home secretary in the lead up to the review. 'It is beyond insulting for cabinet ministers to call on police to 'do their bit' when officers are overworked, underpaid, and under threat like never before,' she said. 'The signs are deeply worrying; the consequences will be even more so. And those consequences sit squarely on the shoulders of the chancellor and the prime minister.' Police 'core spending power' will increase by 1.7% a year over the course of this parliament, according to the spending review. The Liberal Democrats claimed that the government was relying on a 'hidden council tax bombshell' because chief constables will be forced to seek rises in the PCC council tax precept to ensure that forces can maintain a service. Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat's home affairs spokesperson, said: 'The government is relying on a hidden council tax bombshell to fund their half-hearted rise in police funding as they pass the buck to local families.' Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: 'I remain concerned that this spending review could result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers. 'After frontline policing was neglected for years under the Conservatives, local communities deserve better than this sleight of hand.'
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Spending review a ‘huge blow' for police and will hamper efforts to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood police officers
The government's spending review is a "huge blow" for police and will leave forces struggling to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood officers promised by Labour, police leaders have warned. The chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said Rachel Reeves' plans for an average 2.3 per cent rise in police spending per year, the equivalent of £2bn, will cover little more than inflationary pay increases for existing officers and staff. Meanwhile a projected £1.2 billion black hole in police funding will continue to grow, chief constable Gavin Stephens warned. He insisted policing is still focussed on meeting the government's ambitious manifesto pledges to halve violence against and women and girls and knife crime in a decade but admitted the tough funding settlement will make progress 'slower'. Chief constable Paul Sanford, chair of the NPCC's finance committee, warned it will be 'incredibly difficult' to meet the government's pledge to recruit 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, PCSOs and special constables. Home secretary Yvette Cooper promised every community a named, contactable officer as part of her Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee last November. So far around 3,000 officers have been recruited. CC Sanford added: 'We will be working incredibly hard with the Home Office to complete as much of the recruitment that is required as is possible in the years ahead, but based on this settlement, that does look a real challenge for us.' He also warned forces have increasingly relied on borrowing money to balance the books and the cost of debt is expected to go up by 49 per cent in the next three years. There is also no additional funding to help police to manage more offenders expected to serve their sentences in the community under plans laid out by the Ministry of Justice, following David Gauke's sentencing review. President of the Police Superintendents' Association (PSA), Nick Smart, described the spending review as a 'huge blow' to policing and claimed the fallout 'has the potential to put public safety at risk'. He said: 'Many of the government's election pledges centred around a commitment to 'safer streets', promising the public that it would meet ambitious targets such as halving knife crime. 'Yet the lack of investment announced today means we will continue to struggle to deliver the basics, to maintain officer numbers, cover inflationary costs, cover pay awards, and function as we are, let alone move forward on new public safety and transformation initiatives. 'Leaders representing every part of the police workforce have come out in unison, stating the stark truth of policing today, stressing that it will be impossible to deliver on the pledges made by government without increased, long-term investment, and once again, we are ignored.' Considering the funding challenges, he said 'conversations must be had' around where police can begin to say 'no' when other services turn to them for support, adding: 'We cannot continue to be society's sticking plaster when other services falter.' Acting national chairwoman of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, accused the chancellor of failing to listen to police officers or the home secretary in the lead up to the review. She said: "This spending review should have been a turning point after 15 years of austerity that has left policing, and police officers, broken. "Instead, the cuts will continue and it's the public who will pay the price. "As rank-and-file officers kit up for night duty this evening, they'll do so knowing exactly where they stand in the Government's priorities. "It is beyond insulting for cabinet ministers to call on police to 'do their bit' when officers are overworked, underpaid, and under threat like never before. "They are facing blades and bricks, managing mental health crises while battling to protect their own, and carrying the weight of trauma and financial stress home with them every day." The union, which represents 145,000 rank and file officers, claims police pay has fallen by more than 20 per cent in real terms since 2010, while the number of crimes allocated to each officer has risen by a third. Roger Hirst and Joy Allen, joint leads for funding for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, agreed the settlement is not enough to meet government targets to reduce crime. Mr Hirst warned some areas forces will have to rely on council tax hikes to maintain officer numbers, while Ms Allen said a lack of capital investment will leave many forces struggling with outdated digital infrastructure as well as ageing buildings and vehicle fleets. Ms Reeves has said she recognises "that not everyone has been able to get exactly what they want" from Wednesday's spending review, but insisted forces can meet the government's manifesto commitments. Asked about concerns raised by policing figures, she told the BBC: "I recognise that not everyone has been able to get exactly what they want in this spending review." She added: "We're not able to do everything that everyone would want, but real-terms spending power increases for the police of 2.3 per cent a year, above inflation, enabling us to deliver on the commitments we made in our manifesto."
