Tory Philip Seccombe wins third term as police and crime commissioner for Warwickshire by just 261 votes

Conservative Philip Seccombe scraped a narrow victory to become Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire for a third term.

He won by 261 votes, results revealed today after Thursday’s vote.

Mr Seccombe received 45,638 votes, while Labour candidate Sarah Feeney came just behind with 45,377. Liberal Democrat Richard Dickson came third with 24,867 votes.

Conservative Philip Seccombe first took on the role in 2016 and was successful again in the following vote, delayed until May 2021 because of covid.

He recently told the Herald he would be focussing on anti-social behaviour (ASB) and recruitment, among other issues.

Asked about ASB problems in Stratford, he said last week: “Anti social behaviour is a blight on many communities in Warwickshire to include the town centre in Stratford. Having been Police and Crime Commissioner since 2016, it is a subject that has been discussed at length with Warwickshire Police, South Warwickshire Community Safety Partnership and Community Safety at Stratford District Council.

“ASB takes many forms, some of which impact retailers, residents and visitors to central Stratford.

“I support the efforts to apply for and be granted a Public Safety Protection Order to cover the relevant area, which will give the police more powers to interupt ASB and to administer the appropriate response. Causing a nuisance to other residents and shopkeepers is not acceptable, and all of us must do everything we can to stop it.

“During my two terms I have listened to complaints and comments from locals, and have raised the matter in many different forums with senior police officers, council officers, Stratford BID, and others who have the ability to make a difference. I always encourage reporting of incidents, by 999 when a crime is being committed, and 101 for all other reports. I am also pleased that Stratford Police Station is now open seven days a week for local residents (and visitors) to be able to report face-to-face with a police officer.

“I will put ASB high on the agenda for the next term. It will also be a high priority in my new Police and Crime Plan, which is a strategic document, under which the police should conduct themselves, and will be based on the feedback I continue to receive from residents. I am a great supporter of Community Payback which is run by the Probation Service. I have been out with them. They will clean up areas of rubbish and grafitti, which is often where ASB takes place.

“In summary, I will not stop raising ASB in Stratford with senior officers and will continue to push for more officer and PCSO presence in the town centre at all hours of the day and night, to compliment the dedicated town centre officer provided in my 2024/25 budget.”

On the subject of recruitment, Mr Seccombe said there were now 1,120 police officers in Warwickshire – a record number.

This was an increase of 40 per cent on the figure of 800 when he took on the job in 2016 – the previous high had been 1,051 in 2007 and was 973 in 2010 when his party came into government.

Around 100 officers left the force every year – through retirement or for other reasons – and so Warwickshire had to recruit at least 100 each year to maintain the manpower.

Mr Seccombe said the population of Warwickshire was now in the region of 600,000, which meant that though the county was at the lower end of the table (actually 35th out of 42) for the ratio of police officers per 100,000 of population, it was “among the top” in terms of percentage increase.

Additionally in the past Unison - the union which represents Warwickshire police staff – disputed office take-up figures, pointing out that around 125 police officers had been taken off the beat and put behind desks after redundancies in 2021.

Asked if officers within the force were being transferred to civilian posts, Mr Seccombe said: “I’m not aware of any transfers. There may have been some, but there’s been no concerted effort to transfer people.”

He said he’d like another 500 officers, but it was a question of funding. “Warwickshire’s population has grown massively compared to some other areas,” he said.

Mr Seccombe said he believed Warwickshire was being “disadvantaged” in terms of what it received via the National Police Funding Formula, which did not fully take account of the extent of the county’s motorway network, its tourism industry and its contribution to the economy.

“My job is to lever in as much as possible from central government,” he said. Currently there was £800,000 for “safer streets”, £750,000 to tackle serious violence and £1 million for the prevention of anti-social behaviour. “I’m bringing plenty of money in from the Home Office,” he said.

Irrespective of money from Whitehall, the police share of the council tax will go up for 2024-25 by 4.7 per cent to £279 a year – an increase of £13 a year for a typical D band household.

Mr Seccombe said that since last summer Stratford Police Station had been open to the public seven days a week (mornings only on Sundays) so that people wanting to speak to a police officer face-to-face could now do so.

“The future will depend on finance,” he said. “I will be prioritising increasing police numbers. We’ve had a big uplift but I can only spend the money I’m given. I’d like to see the numbers go up further over the next four years.”

See more in next Thursday’s edition of the Herald.