POLICING NOT FOR SALE - SAYS APA

The APA today condemned the Home Secretary’s attempt to bribe police authorities into abolishing local police forces.

The Home Secretary has offered extra money to those police authorities who volunteer to merge their police forces on 23 December.

APA Chairman, Bob Jones said:

“We are disappointed that the Home Secretary has not responded to the genuine concerns raised by the APA. It is our job as police authorities to make sure that our local communities have a say about how they are policed and get the best possible policing in their areas. The Home Secretary asked us on 22 September to look at how we could improve protective policing and all police authorities have since worked hard to do that. 

But we will not be bought off. We have told the Home Secretary that any mergers of police forces will cost a lot of money. It is disappointing that the Home Secretary is now trying to bribe some police authorities to merge their local police forces at the expense of those police authorities who still have serious concerns about whether this will deliver the best policing for local people.

The APA has already told the Home Secretary that no police authority will meet his demand for definite merger proposals by 23 December until they get assurances about:

• How local people will have a real voice in shaping policing both at the strategic and local level
• Whether the Government will find new money to meet the start up costs of any police force mergers – the APA’s figures show it will cost between £500-600m
• Police authorities not having to borrow money on “HP” – otherwise there will be  less money available for local policing because we will have to pay interest costs
• Local council taxpayers not being asked to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for mergers
• Making sure our police officers and staff are not demoralised and demotivated

The APA is also deeply concerned that the Home Secretary plans to undermine local people’s say over policing by giving himself sweeping powers to alter, at whim, the membership and role of police authorities - the bodies who make sure local people can hold the police to account on behalf of communities.

Policing only works if it is has the support, consent and co-operation of local people.  Police authorities want time to consult with their communities and local stakeholders before they reach any final decisions about how local policing services can best be provided.  We will not be bullied or bribed into making decisions in 3 months about changes to our police forces which have done a good job for the last 30 years.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• For further information please contact: Fionnuala Gill (Tel: 020 7664 3167, mobile 07956 859543), or email fionnuala.gill@lga.gov.uk
• The Association of Police Authorities (APA) represents all police authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the British Transport Police Authority and the Civil Nuclear Police Authority.   Local police authorities, along with the Home Secretary and chief officers of police, make up the tripartite relationship which is responsible for the governance of policing in England and Wales.
• Police authorities are made up of local people comprising a mix of councillors, magistrates and independent members.  It is their job to:
• choose (and, if necessary, sack)  chief police officers
• consult and engage with local communities to find out what they want the local police to do
• set the budget for their police force, and decide how much local people should pay for policing in the local council tax
• set the strategic direction for policing locally and decide what the police should focus attention on locally based on their consultations with local communities
• make sure the police force is continuing to do a  better job

• There are currently 43 local police forces in England and Wales.  This structure has been in place for 30 years.  Following HMIC’s “Closing the Gap” report the Home Secretary asked police authorities and forces to develop proposals for mergers for police forces of 4000 officers and above.  Police authorities have worked hard to develop proposals for the future.
• The Home Secretary has now said that only those police authorities who volunteer to merge their forces by 23 December will get money to help do this.  This money will be taken away from those who do not offer to merge on 23 December.
• All police authorities have already agreed that they will not volunteer to merge on 23 December and that they want further reassurances from the Home Secretary as set out in the APA position statement attached.

16/12/2005