A CITY councillor has hit out at the local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) after ministers were accused of being unaware of the impacts of cuts to local policing.

Tom Hayes labelled it ‘a shambles’ that Anthony Stansfeld had never had a one-on-one meeting with the previous or current Home Secretary and said the Government was ‘blind’ and ‘out of touch’ on the impact its policies were having on crime.

Mr Stansfeld, a Conservative, was elected the first PCC for the Thames Valley in 2012 and has been in post since.

Mr Hayes, Labour board member for 'a safer environment' at Oxford City Council, said: “Frankly, when the region elects a Tory Police and Crime Commissioner, you hope for at least one thing – that they use their influence with their own Tory government to protect policing and keep communities safe.

“Yet this Tory PCC couldn’t get a meeting with the last Home Secretary because of his views on Brexit and we’re no clearer about whether he’s getting meetings or money from the current home secretary. It’s a shambles.”

Mr Hayes spoke out after the National Audit Office this week claimed that Government ministers did not know the impact that spending reductions were having on front line policing.

The Oxford Mail repeatedly tried to get comment from the PCC himself, but he was unavailable.

Deputy PCC Matthew Barber, however, said that both he and Mr Stansfeld had spoken out about police funding on 'many occasions' and that Mr Stansfeld had had 'great success in preventing further police cuts and adverse changes to the funding formula'.

Mr Barber went on: "Back in 2015 he was one of the few PCCs who threatened judicial review the last time the Home Office tried to change the formula, referenced by the NAO in their report this week."

He said Mr Stansfeld had met both Amber Rudd and Sajid Javid at events and said the PCC's office was 'currently trying to find a date for the Home Secretary to visit Thames Valley'.

Speaking more broadly about the impact of police cuts, Mr Hayes said the Government was 'blind to the effects of police cuts' and 'out of touch with everyday life'.

He went on: “My council, which has seen its own big cuts, is putting money into policing drugs and partnering the local police to tackle it, so how can ministers be so blind to the problem? Oxford’s public are paying £12 extra each a year for the police portion of council tax just to hold the line, to save low police numbers and not see a terrible situation get even worse.”

Thames Valley Police declined to comment on Mr Hayes’ remarks, but noted that in its annual Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy assessment, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services independently rated Thames Valley Police as Good for Effectiveness, Outstanding for Efficiency and Good for Legitimacy.

Dave Thompson, finance lead for the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "While policing continues to provide a good service, the NAO report recognises that forces are under increasing strain as they deal with rising crime, demand that is more complex and an unprecedented terror threat with fewer officers.

“We welcomed the ability to increase resources as a result of last year’s policing settlement, but the increase to forces varies between 1.6 and 3.6 per cent meaning chiefs still face difficult decisions."