THE Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Surrey, David Munro, has welcomed Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement of almost a billion pounds of investment for mental health services.

Mr Munro, who seeks to replace Surrey’s current independent commissioner Kevin Hurley this May, hopes the additional funding will free-up police officers to focus on tackling crime rather than doing the job of health and social care professionals.

In one year Surrey Police attended more than 3,700 incidents at health sites across the county, costing the force more than £800,000 according to Mr Munro.

Senior officers have said that a significant proportion of these visits would not have been necessary if the right support from mental health professionals and other agencies was more readily available.

Mr Munro said: “Instead of our police being out on the ground protecting our community, far too many officers are being called out to hospitals.

“The Prime Minister’s pledge for extra investment to be used in part to put more mental health professional in emergency departments won’t just benefit patients but will also allow the police to get on with the job of fighting crime and allow more individuals to be detained in hospitals rather than in police cells.

“The recent ‘inadequate’ rating on the way that Surrey Police safeguard vulnerable people and investigate crimes committed against them is evidence the force has some work to do in the area of mental health.

“If elected it will be one of my top priorities to make improvements.”