| Statistics Authority Asked To Query Boris Police Statistics | |||
Mayor accused of 'adjusting' figures on future of policing
Labour Londonwide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi has called into question the accuracy of information on the number of police officers in Hounslow following the revelation that Boris Johnson's policing figures had been 'adjusted'. Murad Qureshi AM is today (Feb 15) backing calls for the UK Statistics Authority’s to investigate 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<http://data.london.gov.uk> but this information differs from that being used by the Mayor in his public consultation. London Assembly Labour Policing spokesperson Joanne McCartney, has written to the UK Statistics Authority seeking clarification. The figures published by the Mayor on his website and separately in the Policing Consultation for Hounslow: • The Mayor says police strength was 472 in 2011 • The Mayor’s London Datastore says police strength was 495 in 2011 • The Mayor forecasts police strength will increase by 74 in 2015 • The Mayor’s London Datastore forecasts police strength will increase by 51 in 2015 There is a difference of twenty-three between the 'claimed' and the 'actual' totals for 2015, according to the report. Mr. Qureshi said; “We know that 41 police officers have been lost since May 2010 in Hounslow and 2,208 police officers have been lost already across London. According to the Mayor we will be getting 74 by 2015 to replace some of those that have been lost. In fact it looks like we'll get 51 more 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 in Hounslow. 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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