Opinion: What has our government done to our emergency services?

The reality is in Cambridgeshire the number of PCSOs has reduced from 148 in 2015 to 22 in 2022 and our population has increased far more than anticipated, so the reality is, there are fewer uniformed officers per head of population than in 2015.

Last year Cambridgeshire Police arrived at the scene of 1,608 of the 3,450 burglaries, nationally the figure is almost 40% of burglaries did not result in a visit to the scene by a police officer. 78.46% of burglaries are closed without a suspect being identified. When it comes to incidents of antisocial behaviour the figures are even worse, 80% of incidents are unattended by a police officer. It goes on with car thefts, 72.2% went unsolved and only 4.3% resulted in a charge or summons. This simply isn’t good enough.

And frankly, these are the figures for those that were actually reported. ​Anyone that has cause to ring the 101 service or use the webchat facility on the police website will tell you what a nightmare it can be when trying to report something. The constabulary is now turning off the webchat facility at peak times, so residents are forced to use the 101 call line. With waiting times getting longer and longer, it is no wonder people give up and do not bother to try again. This unfortunately means that this suppresses the true figures for crime in our county.

The Conservatives have supplied all of our local Police and Crime Commissioners, you have to ask what have they been doing to tackle these issues. It certainly seems that they have not had the positive impact that we were told that commissioners would have on the quality of policing in our local areas. We need better investment in our police forces, not another layer of government tinkering at the sides with little to no effect.

Let me be clear, our hard-working police officers are not to blame; they just need investment in better recourses and the use of more civilian staff to free up officers to get on with tackling crime. Our communities deserve to feel safe walking down their streets. People should be able to feel that if they fall victim to crime, it will be taken seriously and police will attend. Instead of more empty promises, it’s time for the Government to finally commit to properly resourced policing - where offices are visible, trusted, and able to tackle crime.

It’s not just our police service that is suffering, anyone that has had cause to try to book an appointment with their GP leaves you playing the 0830 lottery on the phone, it’s like queuing for tickets to the latest Taylor Swift concert, even when you do get through the most you can expect is a callback from a medical practitioner rather than being able to actually see somebody.

There are currently more than 2,300 patients for every GP in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, this is a 20% increase from 2016. At the last election, the Conservative Party promised to recruit more GPs. ​However, we are 40 GPs fewer now than in 2016.

We need a return to proper local health services. People in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough want strong local health services but years of Government neglect have caused a GP shortage crisis, leaving people unable to see their local doctor when they need to. Boosting GP numbers would not only help people get appointments, it would reduce pressure on our hospitals and paramedics, saving crucial time and money elsewhere in the NHS.

With the current Police and Crime Commissioner facing re-election next year and the prospect of a General Election getting stronger and stronger, hopefully, we can look to achieving a change that benefits all of our citizens and not just the super-rich.