'Policing pledge' ads spark row

Local residents will be given a say in setting police priorities

Shadow home secretary David Davis has accused Gordon Brown of using public money to fund "political advertising".

Mr Davis's comments came after £148,000 of newspaper ads about law and order policies were taken out on the day Mr Brown staged a Labour policing event.

Mr Davis called the neighbourhood policing team ads a "thinly disguised piece of political marketing".

But the Home Office said they broke no rules, and Mr Brown said the teams were "making communities stronger".

He was speaking at the launch of the "policing pledge" outlining standards people can expect from their local police in England and Wales - including minimum targets in areas such as call-handling and dealing with victims.

It follows a report from the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who called for the service to become more "customer-focused". The pledge came alongside the completion of the national roll-out of teams of fully-sworn police officers and community support staff permanently deployed in every community.

Central targets?

In his report, published in February, Sir Ronnie found that confidence in the police increased when they treated people with courtesy and gave them better information.

Under the policing pledge, police will be expected to meet national standards to ensure they answer phone calls promptly, give people up-to-date details about local crimes, and improve their treatment of witnesses and victims.

I'm determined that every person has access to the same level of support and service when it comes to policing Gordon Brown Prime Minister

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live it meant people who report a crime would know what to expect from police in terms of progress updates.

But she denied it would result in more central targets and paperwork for police.

She said people would have a greater say in setting priorities in their communities, particularly on issues such as anti-social behaviour and drug-dealing.

Mr Brown said the policing pledge marked "a new era of policing".

"Every community now has a visible, contactable and accountable policing team, working with local people to keep their neighbourhood safe," he said.

Significant challenges

But the fact that the Home Office adverts were placed in newspapers on the same day as the Labour Party event was staged led to Mr Davis writing to the Cabinet Secretary calling for action.

Mr Davis asked Sir Gus O'Donnell: "There is now emerging a wholly inappropriate political advertising, financed from the public purse.

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"I urge you to give this matter some fuller consideration and take some action to prevent its repetition."

A Home Office spokesman said that no rules had been broken and that "the key to success of (the policy) is that the public know who they are and how to engage with their local teams".

"Police forces have been actively promoting their teams in local areas over the last few weeks, and the Home Office together with the national police representative bodies has a responsibility to support this activity nationally."

There are now 3,600 teams in place - consisting of 13,500 police officers and 16,000 police community support officers.

However, Home Office research into the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing concluded that it was "too early" to reach any firm conclusions.

The study, published in February, looked at the first year of the three-year scheme.

It said forces faced significant challenges in rolling out neighbourhood policing and in making a positive impact in solving problems and establishing effective community engagement.

The report said increasing foot patrols in local areas was not enough to improve confidence in the police.