Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Cath Davis and seconded by Councillor Val Jamieson that:
North Tyneside Council has a strong track record of fighting to reduce violence against women and girls. We can also be proud of our White Ribbon status and the awareness this has allowed us to raise in relation to this important issue.
In 2023. the Liberal Democrat Party made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all 43 Police Forces in England and Wales. They found that more than 1,100 Police Officers are currently under investigation for sexual or domestic abuse. Of these (as reported in the Guardian newspaper on 23rd December 2023) one in 7 have been allowed to “carry on working as normal despite the severity of the offences.”
But unfortunately, these figures do not reflect the full picture as only 28 of the 43 Police Forces in England and Wales responded to the FOI request.
Disappointingly, Northumbria Police was one of those who did not respond.
We believe that women and girls in North Tyneside have a right to feel safe, especially when they are at their most vulnerable. It is important that our regional police force is transparent about its failings, in order to address them and to gain the trust and confidence of women and girls in North Tyneside. To this end they must be willing to share key information about how many of its Officers are, or have been, under investigation for sexual and domestic violence, and out of those investigations; how many have been suspended from duty, dismissed or prosecuted.
We believe it is essential that women and girls in North Tyneside feel assured that the Police Force, which is meant to protect them, has robust processes in place to ensure that Police Officers themselves are not perpetrators of sexual and domestic violence.
Therefore, this council asks that our Mayor write to the Northumbria Police Chief Constable and the PCC to request that the following information is released
? the number of Police Officers from April 2019 to March 2023 who have been accused of sexual or domestic violence offences;
? Of that number, how many have been investigated;
? Of the officers who have been investigated, how many were allowed to continue in their normal duties during the investigation;
? Following an investigation, how many officers were prosecuted and/or dismissed:
? An explanation of why the FOI submitted by the Liberal Democrat Party was not responded to.
We would also like to stress that this information should be made available to the council within the normal 20 working days timescale that applies when an FOI request is made.
Councillor Carl Johnson had contacted Northumbria Police, who having had no record of having the received the aforementioned FOI request from the had been unable to supply the information. Upon communicating with them, Northumbria Police supplied Councillor Carl Johnson with the requested info without waiting for a letter from the Mayor. This was given verbally given to the meeting and Councillor Johnson committed to sending to members via email.
A named vote on the motion was requested by two members present.
Votes for the motion:
Councillors L Bartoli, L Bones, G Bell, L Bell, S Burtenshaw, K Clark, D Cox, S Cox, N Craven, J Cruddas, E Darke, C Davis, D Drummond, P Earley, S Graham, I Grayson, M Hall, J Harrison, A Holdsworth, Janet Hunter, V Jamieson, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Johnsson, C Johnston, J Kirwan, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, I McAlpine, P McIntyre, A McMullen, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, T Neira, A Newman, P Oliver, R O’Keefe, O Scargill, J O'Shea, S Phillips, E Parker-Leonard, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, J Shaw, A Spowart, M Thirlaway, J Walker, J Wallace, M Wilson.
The motion was approved unanimously.