Part two of exclusive interview with Shadow Home Secretary

The main part of the interview with Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was published in the March/April 2011 printed version of Constabulary magazine and can be found by clicking on the link on the front page of this website.

Published below is the remainder of the interview which could not be included in the printed version due to lack of space

What do you think about the new police commissioners?

I am concerned about a lot of power being in the hands of one individual. Also the risk of politicising the police, the risk to operational independence and not having the proper check and balances in the system.

If you have someone who is elected on a particular political pledge they may do things that actually end up conflicting with either operational independence of the police or with the reality of what the police are actually able to do.

We have opposed it as we think that there should be greater checks and balances in the system as there are other ways you can talk about accountability. If you think about a force the size of West Yorkshire or the West Midlands , how can one individual provide true accountability to such very different town and communities?

Also, the idea of spending £100 million on setting up these new police commissioners when there are cuts being made to front-line policing is badly timed.

Tell us your opinion on the proposed changes in police terms and conditions.

I think Alan Johnson's view was that you could save between 70 and 80 million pounds from the overtime budget. Some police forces have already made changes in terms of shift patterns and so on.

I think everyone wants to see sensible reforms that help improve the police ability to fight crime but this should be done by negotiation and working out with the police the right reforms and not picking a fight with the police.

What about the proposals to merge police forces to make savings?

As you know, when we were in power, we did look at that but found people have very strong attachments to their local force and the local accountability so it is not something we plan to look at again right now. What is perhaps more important right now is the way forces can collaborate more.

When talking to police in Bedfordshire recently, I was told about the work they do with Hertfordshire Constabulary where they have a lot of co-operation around forensic science and I think there is a lot more that can be done on co-operative work.

I think the Government doesn't seem to have any clear vision at all for what the role of national policing is, regional policing beyond the level of the individual force – they seem to have no sense of direction.

And how do you feel about merging various police agencies to cut costs?

The concern I have is that it feels somewhat chaotic and it does not feel like there is a clear strategic view. I know the Home Affairs Select Committee is going to do a report on the new landscape of policing, which I think is quite important.

At the moment, you may have one agency closing before a new one is started which gives that sense of not having a strategic vision, and that is my concern. National policing is immensely important and that has got to be properly addressed.

What is your policy on drugs?

I think the real issue with drugs, as with antisocial behaviour, is more about whether the police have the resources to deal with them effectively.

If you end up with the police being overstretched because of the cuts, actually, it is much harder to deal with any of these things so it is not just about the powers and policing framework – it is also about whether you have enough officers or support staff to do the job properly and work with different agencies.

Our view on policing and the 20% cuts in the budget is cutting too far and too fast and the police are being hit more heavily than other public services.

In the light of the growing number of guns and knives used overseas, should we be doing more with regard to gun and knife crime in the UK before things get out of control?

This is an area we are keen to do some more work on. I am particularly interested in some of the issues around knife crime, where often the victims are young people and from a parent's point of view, with regard to the safety of their own children, I think that is an important one. I think we will be giving more detail on this when we have done some more research.

What about the issues surrounding the increasing problem of alcohol and drugs? Are we doing enough?

We are interested in the issues surrounding alcohol and minimum pricing and whether more can and should be done. There are a wide range of issues around drinking and drugs – which range from the serious aspect of drug trafficking to issues of binge-drinking – so we need to be responsive to the different issues.

There are some measures around licensing in the Police Reform Bill that we are supporting but there are others areas we think should go further. I think we have to differentiate between criminal behaviour, health issues and, for what is for a lot of people, sensible responsible drinking that people enjoy.

What are your views on the issues surrounding rape, domestic violence and child abuse?

I think the Labour Government did a lot of good work with regard to domestic violence but I am quite worried that with the cuts, the clocks may be turned back, such as if funding for refuges is withdrawn.

I am hearing that about 60% of refuges are saying that they don't have support or funding arranged for next year yet and that is a serious worry as that comes back to policing. If you don't have that support then it is the police who end up having to pick up the pieces.

So having that network of support around domestic violence and tackling issues around rape are immensely important and bringing into that some of the issues around human trafficking, I think it is shocking that the Government is not signing up to the European Directive. This is international cross-border work and you have to have cross-border partnership-working for something like human trafficking.

How do you feel about the Home Secretary's recent announcement about domestic violence and rape?

I think it was disingenuous because at the same time they re-announced a small amount of funding for the Rape Crisis Centres, they have all these refuges for victims of domestic violence losing their funding.

Tell us your views on vetting and barring.

I am quite concerned that they are leaving some loopholes as part of their new changes, for example, someone could get a job as a voluntary teaching assistant even though they have been previously barred for working with children as a teacher and a school would not know, so I think these issues need to be sorted out.

Do you have new ideas that you will be putting forward of what you would like to see in the future regarding the police?

I think the next stage is to see what the Government plans will be in light of the two reviews and the current debate. In my case, I will continue talking to the police so that I can understand what they actually think and what their concerns are and what the implications will be.

We don't feel things should be railroaded through by the Government, they should get involved in negotiations and that should, in my view, be the starting point.

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