The Government has snubbed a request for more money for the police to crack down on e-scooter misuse in the Bristol region. Metro mayor Dan Norris wrote to Crime and Policing Minister Kit Malthouse earlier this month to ask for extra cash for the Avon & Somerset force to avert “chaos on our streets”.
Mr Norris said additional resources were required because the current trial, run by the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), which he heads, was so popular but there were concerns about dangerous riding, and the two-wheelers were expected to be legalised soon. But the Home Office has replied to say it has increased police funding already and that it is up to chief constables and police & crime commissioners to make operational decisions and allocate resources.
In his letter on May 3, Mr Norris, said the constabulary should be “funded to reflect the popularity of e-scooters” in the region. The Labour regional mayor said: “The e-scooter trial the West of England Combined Authority is conducting has proved very popular with over six-million rides, 600,000 different users and more than 15-million kilometres travelled in its first year.
Read more: Controversial WECA e-scooter trial extended for second time
“The vast majority of e-scooter users are careful and responsible, however a very small minority fail to follow the rules set by the trial. There is also the issue of people using private e-scooters which, at this current time, are not allowed to be ridden legally. “The popularity of the e-scooter trial has made it difficult for Avon and Somerset police to enforce the laws and I therefore ask you to ensure that they are funded in a way that makes enforcement possible and are not disadvantaged by the high use of legal e-scooters.” Speaking on BBC Radio Bristol’s John Darvall show on Monday, May 16, he said: “Enforcement is going to be key to this. It’s going to be very interesting when the Government hopefully can make it clear what it is they’re intending to do about e-scooters.
“We can see that in the Bristol and West of England area, they are hugely popular, more popular than anywhere else in the country. So we have got a real challenge. We already know there are many private e-scooters as well, out and about. They are completely illegal.
“And although the police are trying to enforce that, clearly the resources that they need to do that are not there at the moment and we are going to have an absolute explosion when they are legalised. So clearly the Government is going to have to step up to the plate and resource that if we’re not going to have chaos on our streets.
“Sadly the Government replied to say they would not be giving any additional resources to Avon & Somerset Police. I guess that is not a surprise but they really do need it, so I will be talking to the police & crime commissioner about this because I know he shares some of the concerns, not least about safety of e-scooters alongside the enforcement.
“People make decisions on whether they are going to get caught or not when they do things that they shouldn't.” In the Home Office’s reply to Mr Norris on May 11, a policy official said: “On February 2 the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9billion, an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to 2021-22.
“Overall funding available for police & crime commissioners will increase by up to £833million. Of this increase, £550million is made up of government grants which includes funding to deliver the final 8,000 additional officers as part of the Police Uplift Programme.
“From this settlement, Avon and Somerset are receiving up to £362.2million, an increase of up to £18.6 million compared to 2021-22. It is for chief constables and directly elected police & crime commissioners to make operational decisions, including how to allocate resource, based on their local knowledge and experience.”
Avon & Somerset Conservative police & crime commissioner Mark Shelford said: “I know Avon and Somerset Police’s neighbourhood policing teams continue to actively engage with e-scooter users as part of their regular patrols, giving advice and taking positive action where appropriate. However, it is up to the chief constable to decide how operationally the budget is spent, taking into consideration threat, harm and risk as well as how to deliver my police and crime plan priorities.
“Prevention and road safety are priorities and objectives in my police and crime plan and I know the chief constable will consider this in the force’s road policing and neighbourhood policing provision.”
