“The public expects the police to be catching criminals and keeping them safe. And that’s what these changes are designed to help do.”
British Police officers will be freed from “consuming bureaucracy” under new Government plans, it was claimed today.
Speaking to GB News, Chris Philip, the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire detailed how a new measure called ‘single incident filing’ will work.
He said: “The Government wants to make sure that police are spending their time protecting the public, catching criminals and keeping our streets safe.
“We don’t want their time taken up, either on very minor matters or on time consuming bureaucracy.
“So, there are changes we’re announcing today to the way that the police are obliged to record certain information that we believe will save the police 440,000 hours a year of police time. This time and money are better spent catching criminals. So, for example, at the moment, they’re obliged to record a single report multiple times in some cases, which wastes a huge amount of police time. They’re obliged in some cases to record what you and I would consider to be very minor incidents where someone’s been offended under malicious communications. So, we’re going to issue guidance to make clear that should only happen where the criminal threshold has been reached. They should not be wasting time on very minor matters. The public expects the police to be catching criminals and keeping them safe. And that’s what these changes are designed to help do.
“Nobody wants the police to be wasting time on unnecessary paperwork. Of course, you have to keep proper records, obviously, but it’s gone a bit too far. And we’re tipping the balance back and I think saving nearly half a million hours a year of police time is a really important step.”
Meanwhile Mr Philip also commented on claims made yesterday by Arlene Foster that Joe Biden, currently on a tour of Ireland, was anti-British.
He said: “No, I don’t think he is anti-British. I think the President, when he spoke to the King recently, agreed to come to the United Kingdom on a full state visit, which is fantastic. I think he’s been here four times since becoming president. So, I don’t think I would not accept that characterisation. I think our relationship is in a good place and we’re working very well together.”
Source: GB News
