Durham PCC’s Plan Criticised
A mental health charity have criticised part of the plans set out by Durham Police and Crime Commissioner.
A mental health charity have criticised part of the plans set out by Durham Police and Crime Commissioner.
Ron Hogg wants to work more closely with the voluntary sector to improve mental health services.
One of the reasons is to try and reduce the pressure being placed on officers, across the country 20% of police time is taking up with dealing with people with mental health issues.
The PCC says the community sector is doing good work to help the most vulnerable, he said: “They’re more likely to be victim of crime, more likely to be committing crime. So we need to be working more closely with those groups.”
But Mind say they are not being offered any extra funding, Gary Emerson from the Darlington branch told us they won’t be able to take on any more people: “We, across County Durham and Darlington, saw 300 people last year who either attempted to take their own lives or who were at risk of suicide.”
The Police and Crime Commissioner’s office said it would be manageable for them to work better together.
There are plans for more funding opportunities for voluntary organisations in the future.