The £1.3m bill Ben Maguire says could reopen Launceston’s police desk

Seventeen officers. Full pay throughout. One of them suspended for more than four years. Add it up, and the bill for suspended Devon and Cornwall officers comes to almost £1.3 million a year, more than ten times the sum it would take to reopen a police station front desk that has sat closed in Launceston for months.

What the figures show

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, obtained the figures from Devon and Cornwall Police through a Freedom of Information request. They show that 17 officers were suspended on full pay, with the longest suspension running for more than four years. Together, the salaries and associated employment costs come to an annualised figure of around £1.3 million.

Ben has used the figures to challenge the Government over policing priorities, and to renew his long-running campaign to reopen the front desk at Launceston Police Station.

Raised directly with the Home Secretary

In a Home Affairs Committee session at Westminster, Ben put the figures directly to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, setting the £1.3 million suspension bill against preliminary estimates of around £100,000 needed to reopen the Launceston front desk.

“My constituents will rightly ask how this Government can possibly justify spending around £1.3 million a year on suspended officers’ pay, while a relatively small sum could reopen the front desk at Launceston Police Station, and provide confidence in policing to the town once again,” Ben said.

“The Government says it wants to ‘put community policing and public trust at the heart of its approach’. I of course completely support this, but people need to be able to walk into their local police station, report crimes, and speak to officers face-to-face if we’re serious about rebuilding that trust in any meaningful way.”

The campaign to reopen Launceston’s front desk

Ben has been pushing for months for the Launceston front desk to reopen, including what he describes as repeated challenges to the region’s Independent Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez, over her decision not to do so. He has been sharply critical of the £1.3 million suspension bill in that context, calling it, in his words, “such unthinkable waste.”

“I have been pushing for the Launceston front desk to reopen for months, including repeated challenges to the Independent Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez, over her decision not to do so,” Ben said. “This is ultimately about value for money for my North Cornwall taxpayers, and making sure policing is accessible to them.”

The full Freedom of Information request behind the figures, reference 01/FOI/26/9894, can be read in full here.