Emergency Motion: P&O ferries (March 2022)

Dover CLP calls on the government to explore all avenues to maintain P&O services and maintain staff employment.

EASE Branch motion ‘Policing in schools’ (March 2022)

The Dover CLP notes that:

1. 23 police forces across the UK have employed 683 officers exclusively focused on schools. These officers are often referred to as SSOs (safer schools officers).
2. Kent Police has deployed 70 officers to this role, with 6 named officer covering the Dover region
3. Kent Police have invested in police roles within primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities, pupil referral units and other educational settings across the county. Their stated aim is to ‘ensure young people feel safer in their environments’ and to ‘prevent them from becoming victims of crime’. They also state the aim of ‘diverting young people away from the criminal justice system, preventing them from offending and addressing the causes of re-offending’.Schools officers will “work closely with school staff to identify those that are vulnerable” and “disrupt criminal activity involving young people” amongst other aims.
4. A 2020 report into policing in Manchester schools found that students generally felt negatively towards having a police officer based in their school, schools with an officer were stigmatised, minority groups such as BAME students and this who identified as LGBTQ+ were further negatively impacted and 95% of respondents were not consulted on how and why officers would be used.
   The Dover CLP believes that:
5. The Labour Party should foster a welcoming learning environment where pupils can thrive, and have their educational and emotional needs met. This adequate learning environment is being harmed by Kent Police’s use of ‘school officers’.
6. The aims in practice may seem attractive to improving the welfare of students, yet the presence of school officers is a concern to students and their families and so is a concern for the CLP.
7. The visible presence of police offers in schools is intimidating for students (arguably this is the aim). Students are made to feel as if they must be doing something wrong to have a police presence in their school, and it can lead to a culture of low expectations from students. Instead it is fundamental that students feel welcomed by their school and wider community, and that it can be a safe environment for them to make mistakes.
8. School officers’ contribution to safeguarding is weak – schools and educational settings have robust procedures for report any such incident to local authorities or the police without an officer on site.
9. Kent Police’s objective to ‘disrupt criminal activity involving young people using powers appropriately’ is a technical way of saying an increased police presence will allow police to enact powers, such as stop and search, much more conveniently and frequently. This effectively criminalises young people, who often go to school to escape the difficult circumstances they may be facing at home.
10. Named officers being placed in Kent’s secondary schools leads to a culture of hostility for students. This is especially problematic when school officers are being targeted at the most disadvantaged schools. Kent Police even states ‘deprivation indicators’ are considered when allocating school officers. Over-policing these deprived areas risks criminalising young people (especially those who are ethnic minorities), which could exacerbate inequalities.

The CLP resolves to:

1. Condemn the actions of Kent Police on criminalising young people whilst in schools and other educational settings
2. Call for Kent Police to immediately withdraw officers from schools and other educational settings.
3. Promote the use of funding to be better used for other services across the region such as youth outreach, youth and sports clubs and counselling as a method for reducing crime.

Dover, Deal & Thanet Co-op Branch motion ‘Refugees fleeing war’ (January 2022)

Given that refugees fleeing from war, civil unrest and other atrocities, arrive in the UK having gone through harrowing experiences including long, arduous and at times, dangerous journeys, the least this country can do is offer a ‘safe haven’ while their asylum applications are being considered.

This meeting calls on the Home Office to ensure a safe and healthy humanitarian experience when the refugees arrive and to process their applications for asylum in a more speedy, compassionate and efficient manner.

We recognise that asylum seekers have been prevented by the `Hostile Environment’ policy from accessing processing via UK embassies abroad. We call upon that such access to be reinstated and so prevent the appalling scenes televised on the EU border in Poland and in Calais that also feed far right narratives to this tragic situation.

North Deal Branch motion ‘Health and Social Care Bill’ (January 2022)

Dover & Deal CLP should return to campaign on NHS issues , to fight privatisation, to restore training bursaries for nursing staff and re-establish service levels along with opposing the Health & Social Care Bill.

Women’s conference motion ‘Safe and Legal routes’ (January 2022)

This Conference condemns the Conservative Government’s heartless and inhumane response to desperate people attempting to seek sanctuary in the UK.

This Conference calls on the Labour Opposition to demand that the Government provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary in the UK by:

1. Immediately restarting refugee resettlement and making a new, fully-funded commitment to resettle 10,000 vulnerable refugees each year. 

2. Establishing a new Dubs Scheme to resettle a further 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees from elsewhere in Europe over the next ten years. 

3. Guaranteeing the rights of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe to be reunited with family members, including expanding family reunion rights so that unaccompanied child refugees in the UK can sponsor close family members to join them. 

4. Providing all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with support and specialist legal advice including by appointing an independent guardian for each child, prioritising those children who are victims of human trafficking. 

5. Upholding the Refugee Convention, reversing the recent changes to asylum rules that contravene it, and abandoning plans to further restrict the right to seek asylum. 

6. Closing facilities such as the Napier and Penally Barracks, and providing alternative accommodation for asylum-seekers which ensures adequate healthcare, sanitation, and physical security, and which facilitates their fair and effective access to the asylum system.

7. Creating pathways for submission of humanitarian visa applications, including at embassies and consulates at countries of origin and at channel crossings.

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