Donna Jones, the Conservative candidate for the forthcoming Police and Crime Commissioner election, has answered a series of questions ahead of the polls opening on 2nd May.
4 candidates are vying to become the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) this year. PCCs are elected representatives who hold police forces and chief constables to account and decide how much residents pay towards policing through their council tax.
Throughout the 4-year term, the role includes publishing a police and crime plan, which involves consulting with the public on their priorities and then detailing how they aim to address these issues.
Ahead of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight PCC election, the Local Democracy Reporter Scheme asked the 4 candidates a total of 10 questions to provide an insight into their policies and personalities. Only the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates responded. The other candidates Don Jerrard (The Justice and Anti-Corruption Party) did not respond.
Below, the Conservative’s Donna Jones discusses her proudest achievement as PCC, tackling anti-social behaviour and budget pressures.
Why should people care about the PCC election? Policing and the management of the criminal justice system is one of the most important public services. It is right that the public have the ability to influence the way their local police force is run and the local policing priorities set by the police and crime commissioner for the chief constable to deliver. Victims’ services are paid for by the PCC as are all contracts such as the purchase of Tasers, police cars and forensic contracts. What are the biggest challenges facing the constabulary in the next four years? The growing complexity of crime was sped-up by Covid with international and national criminal gangs moving their operations online. The growth of crimes online poses one of the biggest threats to children, elderly and vulnerable at the same time. Whilst I’ve successfully managed the police force budget over the last three years including increasing the return on investments from £2m a year to £5.8m, as we approach the general election at the end of a three-year comprehensive spending review, the uncertainty of Home Office grants for the next three years has meant I’ve started to reserve funds for all eventualities. Does Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary have enough police officers and what should the priorities be for the force? No. This has been a concern for the last three years. The government funded the recruitment of 498 police officers. When I took office in May 2021, I pledged 600 more police officers. I’m pleased to confirm that I achieved this pledge in March 2023. In April 2023 I pledged 50 more police officers. The 650th police officer was recruited in March this year and I’m pleased to have found the funding for another 75 more police officers in January this year. This will be a net increase of 725 more police officers in just over three years. What do you see as the most important function of the police and crime commissioner position? Acting on public sentiment. One example is the 101 call service. Calls to the non-emergency line were not being answered quickly enough with people waiting upwards of 30 mins (May 2021). The public complained that there was a lack of feedback when crimes or information were reported. I’ve listened and acted. In the last six months, I’ve funded the recruitment of 75 more call handlers and opened a new call centre in the east of the county. This has led to a significant reduction in call waiting times, with the average waiting time less than five minutes since October 2023. The police and crime commissioner is a political role. How much political experience do you have? I have 16 years experience representing the public most notably as the leader of Portsmouth City Council. I have experience of managing public sector finances, aided by my background in business and banking. The police budget is over £465m a year which brings a high level of responsibility and decision making. In order to best represent the businesses in the police force area, I sit on the board of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. I served as a magistrate in Hampshire for 16 years before becoming the PCC in May 2021. What is or was your day job outside of politics? I work full-time as the police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle Wight. I am also the chair of the National Association of Police and Crime Commissioners making me one of the five national police leaders working directly with the Home Secretary, Home Office, as well as the Ministry of Justice. I chair the criminal justice board for Hampshire and Isle of Wight with the regional directors of the CPS, probation, prisons and judges in attendance. I set up and chair the homicide review board and the drugs partnership board.
Re-introducing local bobbies across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. I have funded 99 dedicated local bobbies in January this year. This means that every village, hamlet, town and city across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight now has a police officer whose sole responsibility is to support the community and reduce and solve crime. Their mobile phone number, name and email address are available online and can be found here hampshirealert.co.uk/Content/AllLocalAreas We have also seen 6,700 fewer crimes committed over the last 12 months, making communities safer. What crime blights people’s lives the most and how can it be tackled? Anti-social behaviour (ASB) and frauds and scams. In August 2021, I set up an ASB fund. I have recently announced £500,000 for the ASB fund which all areas across the county have bid into. I have funded street lighting, CCTV, youth diversion programmes (delivered by specialist charities) and other initiatives. In July 2023, I held the county’s first cyber crime and fraud conference bringing together the National Crime Agency, the South East Cyber Resilience Centre and national banks. Education is key to reducing harm as is sharing data and information with other countries to break international criminal networks. Should Hampshire and Isle of Wight residents expect to pay more towards policing every year and why? No. Through careful budget planning, taxation can and should be kept to a minimum. This year, in spite of recruiting 152 more police officers than the government funded, I was able to set aside the funding for another 75 police officers whilst having one of the lowest police precept increases in the country. Through careful budget planning over the last three years, I have been able to open new police stations and front counters across the police force area with 10 having been committed to in 2024/2025. And lastly, who is your role model in life? William Wilberforce – British politician and philanthropist (1759 – 1833). Wilberforce always said what was right, not was expected. He was a key sponsor of the abolition of slavery, campaigning for 20 years until the law was changed. The concept of one human being owning and trading another is abhorrent. It is one of the most important laws this country has passed. Sadly, the rise in slavery is increasing around the world with Hampshire and IOW Constabulary responding to multiple reports each year. Through my office, we lead the modern-day slavery board. Report by Jason Lewis – Local Democracy Reporter Scheme
Simple question to ask ourselves. Have things got better or worse during your term in office.
She forgot to answer,why has she been utterly useless,and a complete waste of money
scrap the role,a PCC should not be aligned to any political party
What a pile of pony, she hasn’t funded anything, it’s the tax payers that have funded everything. She loves taking the glory for all the hard working tax payers
What a load of expected rubbish, where are the extra officers.. not on the island full time, crime is up, drugs are all over the island .. no tangible reductions at all .. and year on year precept increases during your PCC time, so please go back to Portsmouth City Council .. let someone with the required skill set and acumen, Become the new PCC .. we don’t want or need a show person .. thank you.
Vote liberal he wants to scrap the position as it costs three million pounds a year to run the position and her office. The liberal candidate wants to put this money back on the front line
There’s only one question…..
Why should public funds continue to be given to workshy people like yourself?
The writers below are talking nonsense. We do have extra officers, we do have local officers. I know their names, they do exist!!
But has the crime rate increased or decreased?
Do the other three candidates get to voice their opinions, or is this purely a party political broadcast for the conservative.
You clearly haven’t been paying attention over the past few days, have you?
It is nonsense to blame Covid for the change in the crime profile. Crime was going on line long before Covid. It is why we saw a reduction in theft of things like TVs and small electrical devices which had been traditionally easy to fence in pubs. Criminals realised that there was no point in taking the risk or making the effortto do this when they could empty people’s bank accounts on line from the comfort of their armchair. Covid is just the easy hook to hang things on.
If the Force now has 75 additional call handlers on top of the one’s already ths deployed before this increase, what proportion of the overall staff and officers are taken up just answering the phone?
We could save millions of pounds if we did not employ such roles.
We need more Bobbies on the beat, there are too many chiefs and not
enough Indians.
What is this role for? Why does it have to be political? Surely we have highly paid, high ranking police officers with loads of relevant experience that would be better suited (and it should be their job anyway).
IE, why didn’t you challenge her on her lies. She has not recruited more officers, simply moved them from one team to another. Why has our precept gone up when she clearly has surplus funds? She has not opened new police stations, just back offices with no police officers in that are only open for a few hours a week. She is just an utter incompetent liar. Policing continues to get worse under her watch. Abolish this unnecessary role altogether.
I don’t agree with this role being pollical in any way, personally I don’t align myself solely to one party, the “tick in the box” is hopefully the one that will do us the least harm, because lets face it, things will go wrong from time to time, not everything is a bed of roses!
Crowing about how good you are, what you “might” have achieved, etc doesn’t really cut it when you keep putting up the precept, more money does not always show success, sometimes you’re throwing money at it to get yourself out of a hole.
The ultimate goal should be to make real sustainable changes while cutting costs without detriment. Until the police, courts, etc become more accountable this will be impossible.
Well said!
The only thing she is good at is getting into the position to run for the Tories. There is nothing else ensuring she can do her job. We don’t elect bus or lorry drivers for a reason. They get their jobs from training and their ability to prove they can do their job.
Says there are not enough police, well resign. It’s your party that cut all the police from the island turning the roads into a wild west.