Last week, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) which is responsible for providing national oversight of the performance of police services, published a report which found that over one in five crimes, over 80,100 in total, went unrecorded in our city region by Greater Manchester Police between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was particularly shocked that women, children and other vulnerable persons were often being failed with one in four violent crimes unrecorded and unpursued.  These include offences such as stalking, coercive behaviour, domestic violence and other offences against vulnerable persons and children.  More worryingly the performance in recording crimes by Greater Manchester Police has gotten worse since the last HMICFRS report in 2018 when 89 percent of crimes were recorded; the rate is now down to 77%.

In the scathing report, inspectors described victims of crime in Greater Manchester as ‘too often being let down’ by police with the service provided to the most vulnerable being ‘a serious cause of concern’.

Councillor Sykes is also gravely concerned; he said:  “It is simply unacceptable for the crime recording rate and for the service provided to the victims of crime, especially those who are most vulnerable, to continue to be in decline.  The Chief Constable and senior officers at Greater Manchester Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner elected to oversee them, Greater Manchester’s Labour Mayor Andy Burnham, have had four years to do something to turn this situation around and they have failed.”

“Greater Manchester residents rely in their police service to keep them safe and protect them from crime and they rightly expect, and pay, for police officers to apprehend and charge offenders.  Yet it is clear from this report that this is still so often not being done, and the victims are frequently those who are most at risk from violence or exploitation, such as women in abusive relationships, vulnerable adults and children.  This simply cannot go on.”

In his response to the report, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Ian Hopkins said the force had “robust plans” to address the issues, and Councillor Sykes has now written to Chief Constable Hopkins and the Mayor asking for details of these so called robust plans.  Councillor Sykes added:  “I am seeking reassurance on behalf of my constituents and the people of Oldham that there really are plans to tackle this crisis effectively and soon.”