Mayor Sadiq Khan confirms plans which would close counters in W12 and SW6

Hammersmith Police Station will become the only one in the borough with a front counter open to the public, under plans confirmed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The borough currently has front counters open for limited hours within a portacabin in Fulham and around the clock at Shepherd's Bush Police Station while Hammersmith Station is being refurbished.

However, on Wednesday 1 November, The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed plans to reduce the number of police front counters in London, with just one remaining open in most boroughs, as part of a new Public Access Strategy.

In Hammersmith and Fulham, that station will be Hammersmith. Though the service has temporarily been moved to W12 while Hammersmith Station is redeveloped, it will return to the station in Shepherd's Bush Road once the £59 million refurbishment is completed in 2019.

Front counter at Shepherd's Bush Station in Uxbridge Road and in Fulham will both be closed.

The Mayor's report says that just 8% of crimes were reported at police front counters in 2016, down from 22% in 2006, and this number continues to fall.

Since 2010, the Met's budget has been reduced by £600 million. A further £400 million of savings have to be found by 2021. Yet the opportunities to generate more income or make substantial savings are diminishing as the force has been cut to the bone, and unless the Government's funding cuts stop now officer numbers could fall below 27,500 by 2021 - a 19-year low.

Reducing the number of front counters, days the Mayor could save an additional £8 million – equivalent to the cost of 140 police constables – in order to protect and support frontline policing as much as possible, and keep Londoners safe, in the face of Government cuts to police funding.

As well as maintaining one 24/7 police front counter service in every borough, the final plans include the following measures:

Police officers will patrol in crime hotspot areas so they can reach the scene of emergencies quickly – police officers rarely respond to incidents from police stations or bases, but respond from where they are patrolling in vehicles in the community.

London’s Dedicated Ward Officers – whose numbers the Mayor is doubling by the end of this year - will be based at new hubs far closer to their local ward and the community they patrol, making them more visible and accessible. They will hold new well-advertised community sessions every week in every ward. These will be in well used, high footfall locations – such as leisure centres and local authority buildings - to provide a more flexible and convenient way for Londoners to engage with their local officers.

More focus on telephone services – which account for 70% reporting.

A new online reporting service launched for testing in March and which has already delivered a 350% rise in online reporting, with 1,200 reports a week made during its initial phase.

New technology will allow police officers to spend more time on the beat in their communities, where they will be on hand to tackle the issues that matter most to Londoners, such as knife crime, anti-social behaviour, hate crime and extremism, and domestic abuse.

Sadiq Khan, said: "The drastic nature of Government cuts to policing budgets has left us with no choice but to take drastic action and make some very difficult decisions.

"Keeping Londoners safe is my number-one priority, and supporting officers out on the beat in our communities is more important than keeping open buildings that are simply not used by the vast majority of the public, and where just eight per cent of crimes are reported.

"Nevertheless, I understand and share some of the very legitimate concerns of Londoners about these closures. That is why we held the widest possible consultation with public meetings in every London borough and we have listened very carefully to the feedback.

"I am confident that these final plans maintain the best possible service for Londoners, and will provide the access to the police that they need – especially in an emergency. The combination of one 24/7 front counter in every borough, more dedicated local officers in better contact with the communities they serve, and a significantly improved online service will mean that Londoners are able to contact the police in the way that suits them best.

"The fact is that as a result of government cuts, police officer numbers are falling, and every pound spent keeping a police station open is a pound that would otherwise need to be found by cutting police officer numbers even further. That is why, at a time of crime rising nationally and the terrorism threat we face, I continue to call on Ministers to urgently end the police funding crisis."

Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: "I fully share the Mayor’s commitment to keeping Londoners safe, and the men and women of the Met work tirelessly to deliver that commitment. I am confident that these changes will not impact on our ability to deliver this.

"We know that the ways in which the public want to contact us have changed, so we absolutely must continue to transform, focusing on serving the public as best we can. Of course we know there will be some people who need to speak to a police officer face to face, and there are still many ways in which they can do that.

"The most effective place for our officers to be is out on the streets. Be that on patrol responding to the public, proactively out tackling crime on operations or in their communities forging stronger, better links gaining vital local information.

"We must be a modern forward looking organisation, with better, more effective technology so we can equip our staff to do their jobs whilst on the beat. This is not simply about the constraints on our budget, but future proofing how we deliver front line policing and the difficult choices we face."

November 3, 2017