It was recently revealed the London mayor first accepted the need to close police station front counters as early as November 2024, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

Gareth Roberts, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan and his deputy policing lead have been accused of “staying silent” on the Metropolitan Police’s decision to close almost half of the city’s station front counters – despite knowing months in advance.

The force has proposed to slash the number of publicly accessible front counters from 37 to 19, as it tries to cut costs amid a £260million budget shortfall. Khan recently called the move “pragmatic”.

Deputy mayor for policing Kaya Comer-Schwartz told the Police and Crime Committee on Wednesday (17th) that discussions around possible closures were held as early as November 2024, despite the London Assembly not knowing until July this year.

Pressed by Liberal Democrat assembly member Gareth Roberts, Comer-Schwartz said: “In November, December last year, there were some discussions around, given the strength of need in terms of the budget, what would be red lines, and some closures were discussed then.

“However, the proposals around the exact ones, I saw that in July.”

She said last November, “nothing was agreed” but admitted the conversations over the closures were “high level”.

“I had no specifics on that at all until July,” she added.

Under the plans confirmed this summer, only 20 front counters would remain open across London, meaning residents in more than a third of boroughs would not have a local police station.

Of these, only eight would be open on a 24/7 basis, according to Hayley Sewart, the Met’s commander for frontline policing, despite the mayor’s manifesto pledge last year to maintain a 24/7 front counter in all 32 boroughs of London.

Last week Khan admitted he was first made aware of the possibility of closures during a presentation from Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last winter.

He went on to back the force’s operational decision, claiming that “very few people” visit front counters and that the money would be invested more effectively in neighbourhood policing teams.

In 2023, he intervened to keep one such service in West London open, shortly before a parliamentary by-election in the constituency. But this week he told assembly members: “When the facts change, I change my mind.”

Questioned about this use of language, Comer-Schwartz told the Police and Crime Committee that she didn’t have the specific data but said Crimestoppers had seen a “huge increase in reporting through their channels”.

Committee chair and Conservative assembly member Susan Hall said: “Some of these answers you’ve obtained are quite appalling, to be honest.

“And all of us feel quite aggrieved, because we are aware of how unhappy the public are, even if you and the mayor are not.

“They don’t want their front counters gone for a saving of something like £7million. They don t want that.

“It is a damn shame that both the police won’t come [here] and you put everything down to [it being] operational.”

Roberts told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “To discover that both the mayor and his deputy mayor privately knew closures of police front counters were on the table but stayed silent for seven or eight months is unacceptable.

“These decisions go to the heart of public trust and safety. Communities rely on local police counters – and they should not be cut by stealth.

“The proposals would see up to 18 police front counters shut across the capital, for an estimated saving of just £7m – a move strongly opposed by local communities.

“The London Assembly will continue pressing for clarity on what has changed since the mayor’s election promise, and why Londoners were misled for so long.”

A spokesperson for the mayor said: “Nothing is more important to the mayor than keeping Londoners safe and he is determined to continue doing all he can to support Sir Mark Rowley deliver a New Met for London, putting neighbourhood policing at the heart of communities.

“The proposed changes to police counters are an operational decision for the Met – based on resources, funding and public demand for services.

“After over a decade of cuts worth over a billion under the previous government, the Met is facing an extremely difficult financial situation. The mayor is working closely with the Met to boost visible neighbourhood policing in our communities and is having ongoing discussions with ministers and the commissioner about the funding the Met needs to ensure we can continue building a safer London for everyone.”

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