South Wales Police: Mental health calls squeeze force

Chief constable Matt Jukes said the force was "plugging a gap" in mental health crisis services

South Wales Police's ability to carry out its core duties is coming under increasing pressure because of a rise in mental health-related calls, according to its chief constable.

Matt Jukes said nine out of 10 calls are not new crimes being reported.

He said this "mission creep" deflected officers from doing critical work, such as dealing with online crime and sexual violence.

The Welsh Government said improving mental health care was a priority.

He said despite not being the most appropriate service to support those suffering a mental-health crisis, the force was often "plugging a gap" because it ran 24/7.

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"We're dealing with a lot of missing people"

"We're dealing with a lot of things like mental health issues, a lot of missing people," he said.

"In the last year we dealt with more missing people than the previous one - 10,500 - so work around children's homes, around mental health is a bigger part of policing these days."

Mr Jukes, who has been in post for a year, said the police played a role in supporting vulnerable people, but he would rather focus on the more complex cases like online crimes and sexual violence.

"The more we do where actually policing isn't the best resource to be used, the more we deflect from doing that really critical work," he said.

"What we can't be doing is plugging a gap, just because we're there 24 hours a day, just because we've got a really easy number to remember. We can't be there to do things where I'm not sure we're necessarily the best service.

"But we're never going to put the phone down on a vulnerable person."

Budgets

His comments come as Police and Crime Commissioners across Wales discuss with local councils how much funding they receive from council tax.

Mr Jukes said even receiving the same level of funding would mean an effective £6m budget cut for the South Wales force because of increased overheads like salary and building costs.

South Wales Police has the biggest budget of the four Welsh forces - £271m in 2018/19. The majority of its funding is received from the UK government (60%) and the local police precept from council tax (40%).

"Without [a budget increase] I can't guarantee services that we're delivering at the moment," he said.

A Welsh Government official said they worked closely with the police and other frontline services most likely to be the first contact point for people in mental health crisis.

"Improving out of hours and crisis care is a priority for us and we are investing £1m of our mental health transformation and innovation fund for a range of approaches to improve support including liaison services, crisis support and street triage."

Police will get 'substantial increase' in funding for 2019-20 says Home Office

Officials a the Home Office said the UK government is "on the front foot in engaging with the police" on funding, and recognised "the changing demands they are facing".

A spokesman added: "The Police Funding Settlement for 2019-20 provides the most substantial police funding increase since 2010."

The Home Office said £2 increase in average council tax bills across the South Wales force area would increase funding by £19.1m - taking overall funding to £290.1m.

"This settlement will help police forces to meet the financial pressures they face next year, while also providing additional money for recruitment and neighbourhood policing, counter-terrorism, and fighting serious and organised crime," added a Home Office spokesman.