The Labour/Liberal Democrat Progressive Alliance on Milton Keynes Council is set to propose a motion at Full Council asking when the police service in Milton Keynes will be sufficiently resourced.

Milton Keynes is the largest town in the eastern region by both size and population, however police stations have been closed to the public or had their operating hours curtailed, and policing numbers have failed to recover from the Conservative government’s headcount cuts.

Liberal Democrat Progressive Alliance Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Councillor Paul Trendall, will move the motion at next week’s Full Council: “We’re not seeing as many police on the streets in Milton Keynes as we need. The residents of Milton Keynes deserve to know when their local police service will be properly resourced, so they feel safe and protected.”

Government figures from March 2021 show 4,401 police officers in the Thames Valley police force, a decrease from 4,415 in September 2020.

The motion requests that the Council Leader and Chief Executive write to the Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley to ask when the police service in Milton Keynes will be sufficiently resourced.

Councillor Lauren Townsend, Labour Progressive Alliance Cabinet Member for Public Realm, is seconding the motion and added:“Residents deserve to feel safe in their communities and supported by their local police force; this can only happen if the police themselves are supported.”