Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader in Oldham, councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has hit out at a “lack of transparency” within Greater Manchester Police as figures show that anti-social behaviour complaints “go ignored” across the country.   

Councillor Sykes, who represents Shaw ward on Oldham Council, has criticised the force for failing to provide key figures on anti-social behaviour, as part of a Freedom of Information request (FOI) submitted by the Liberal Democrats.  

Councillor Sykes said, “What we have seen over recent years is a complete collapse in frontline policing, accompanied by savage Conservative cuts right across GMP, including the backroom staff.  Despite repeated claims from Conservatives in Government and Labour politicians in Manchester that there are more police on our streets, it’s gotten so bad that police aren’t even managing to attend reports of crime.”

The FOI responses provided from other police forces across the country show that most anti-social behaviour issues go unattended by police.  The data shows that across England and Wales in 2022, 63% of anti-social behaviour reports went unattended by officers. 

Greater Manchester Police refused to provide figures for the Greater Manchester region, claiming that it would be too costly to do so.

Councillor Sykes said, “What have GMP got to hide?  Are the figures in Manchester worse than elsewhere?  Would the figures be inconvenient for local leaders who have recently hiked taxes to pay for GMP?”

“By not providing a transparent answer in the first place, GMP have left themselves with more questions to answer.”  

NOTES

This data was obtained via an FOI request that was issued to all police forces in the UK. 

Data can be viewed here.