Following Friday’s revelation that Boris Johnson’s policing figures were not actual figures but had been 'adjusted', local Labour Assembly Member John Biggs has called into question the accuracy of the information given to residents on the number of police officers in Newham.
John Biggs AM is today backing calls for the UK Statistics Authority’s opinion as to whether the figures currently being used by the Mayor for his London-wide consultation on the future of the Metropolitan Police are accurate. Currently, information on the number of police officers is made publicly available through the Mayor’s London Datastore but this information differs from that being used by the Mayor in his public consultation.
London Assembly Labour Policing spokesperson Joanne McCartney, has today written to the UK Statistics Authority seeking clarification.
The figures published by the Mayor on his website and separately in the Policing Consultation for Newham:
- The Mayor says police strength was 765 in 2011
- The Mayor’s London Datastore says police strength was 780 in 2011
- The Mayor forecasts police strength will increase by 71 in 2015
- The Mayor’s London Datastore forecasts police strength will increase by 56 in 2015
Local Labour London Assembly Member John Biggs said:
“We know that 46 police officers have been lost since May 2010 in Newham. According to the Mayor we will be getting 71 more officers by 2015. In fact it looks like we'll have 56 more police officers by 2015.
“It now appears Boris’s plans for the future of the Metropolitan Police are based on dodgy stats. Boris either knows these figures are wrong or is deliberately misleading the public.
“Residents have been consulted by Boris on the future of policing. It is vitally important that the information given to people is absolutely watertight and there is no confusion. We need to get to the bottom of what is going on as transparency is vital to building public trust in this whole process.
“If the Mayor cannot explain where his figures have come from then what confidence can Londoners, have in his future plans? I am backing calls for the UK Statistics Authority to investigate so we can get to the bottom of this.”
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