It's vital local people have their say on the Met's New Met for London Plan. As locally elected representatives, Nickie Aiken, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, and Tony Devenish, London Assembly Member for West Central, were disappointed the Westminster community meeting wasn't well advertised and have written to the Commissioner requesting a second meeting be arranged.
Calling for a second public meeting, Nickie commented,
"I'm Nickie Aiken, the Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster. And I'm joined by Tony Devenish, the Greater London Assembly Member for West Central. We're outside Belgravia Police Station, the former Police Station that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, closed under his plans to improve policing, apparently.
"It's really important that we hear from the Police and that's why we both welcomed the community meeting that the Met organised in Westminster this week. But unfortunately, very few people were aware of it, no Councillors were invited. I had an invitation at the last minute and it is the middle of the summer school holidays, and that's why Tony and I, along with Rachael Robathan, the Conservative Group Leader at Westminster Council, have written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, asking him to organise another meeting, this time in the south of Westminster. This week's meeting was in the north. It's really important that we hear voices from across Westminster about the future of the Metropolitan Police Service.
Tony Devenish, London Assembly Member for West Central said,
"Crime is the number one issue across our constituency. Sadiq Khan doesn't get crime. The new Commissioner does get crime. He needs to get out more with his team and really engage with our community. So come on, Commissioner, let's have another meeting A.S.A.P."
