Rushanara Ali MP has written to Mayor of London Boris Johnson, asking him to explain deep cuts to community support officers. The cuts have not resulted in more police officers, despite Home Secretary Teresa May’s claim that this is Metropolitan Police policy. This is at a time when crime in Tower Hamlets is also rising, having gone up by over 9% since 2010.

In her letter, Rushanara says: “I would ask you, as Mayor of London, where money from disbanded community support officers has gone, as it has not provided for any increase of police officers in my constituency.”

In particular, Rushanara asked Boris Johnson to explain why Home Secretary Theresa May has stated, at Home Office Questions on Monday 7, that “the Metropolitan police force has indicated that it wants to change the number of PCSOs [community support officers] in order to increase the number of police constables it has available.”

Labour's Crime Spokesperson, Cllr Abdal Ullah, said: "Boris Johnson must make clear where the money for these officers is going and why he wants less police on our streets."

Tower Hamlets has lost 58 community support officers and 103 police officers between March 2010 and April 2012. Crime in Tower Hamlets fell steadily for 6 successive years, under the previous government, until 2009.