Let’s be in no doubt this is important. Violence is a blot on society. It leads to death and damaged lives. We must take effective action.
And we are not without means. The Public Health approach is a good approach. It is science-based – policies and interventions are required to be backed by sound research. It demands an evidence based approach with reliable data that are vital for understanding the problem and verifying that our actions are addressing it, making a difference.
There is good data here. Even too much, I see evidence of analysis paralysis. Analysis as a substitute for action. Because it is not just about data, if it were, I think we would have the problem solved long ago.
The Public Health approach is about action, about making interventions, measuring performance, trying things out to see what makes a difference, and stop doing things that don’t work, and do more of what does.
That is the gaping hole in this report. Three years in and I see little evidence of the Public Health approach actually being applied. I see no quantitative data on what has been done in Croydon and whether it is working or not.
I see pages and pages of Priorities in the plan. Many of them unquantified expressions of intent. Work on this, improve that, maintain the other. Even where there is anything measurable proposed, nothing is presented about what if anything might have been done, still less whether it made a difference where it counts. Your programme, performance and project management are every bit as bad as your financial management.
I understand the reluctance to have meaningful targets given that the Equality and Inclusion Annual Report, another with Councillor Ali’s signature on it, showed that of the more than 30 targets set in the Equality and Inclusion Policy all but 3 were failures.
Let’s look at the highest level objectives here.
- Reduce the overall crime rate in Croydon It’s up
- Focus on violent crime It’s up
- Sexual violence That’s up too.
In no surprise to anyone, like everything else with Croydon Labour in charge it has been poorly managed and has failed miserably. Appalling financial incompetence now means resources will be cut.
I said at the start this is important, it’s too important to have incompetent Labour in charge. This report is yet another piece of evidence of why they need to be removed from office as soon as possible.
