The Chair of Cleveland Police Authority said today that the Government has ‘failed to produce a single scrap of genuine evidence or real justification for its plans to undermine the very foundations of our policing system by introducing single person control.’
Councillor Dave McLuckie was speaking as the Authority published its response to the Government’s ‘Policing in the 21st Century’ document in which it proposed to introduce so-called Police and Crime Commissioners, elected for four years and with enormous powers, including the ability to set policing priorities and budget...and hire and fire Chief Constables.
In its response, supported by Authority members from all political parties together with independent members, the Authority sets out a litany of criticisms of the plan which it describes as ‘fundamentally flawed.’
These include:
*Inadequate period for consultation, in breach of the Government’s own code.
*A lack of detail, especially on financial implications of its plans...it has already been estimated that the cost of initial elections would be £60million or more..
*No proposals for the experience, skills or ability required by ‘Commissioners.’
*No indication of how much they would be paid or the kind of support available to them.
*No safeguards to ensure that Commissioners could not pursue narrow or extremist agendas.
*No proposals for how urgent decisions could be taken in the event of a Commissioner being on leave or ill.
Said Councillor McLuckie “At the heart of these proposals are two assertions which are simply false—firstly that police authorities are ‘remote and invisible’ and secondly that putting control in the hands of a single individual would ‘reconnect’ policing with the public.
“To suggest that in Cleveland the police authority is ‘invisible’ is simply nonsense. Indeed we have a very high profile and certainly the public never find a problem in letting us know what they think of us or the force!
“The strength of police authorities is that the do bring together a wide range of people, from local authorities and different parties, together with independent members of the public. That system has avoided the ‘politicisation’ of policing...something which rightly worries the public and police alike.
“Creating elected single person control would introduce ‘politicisation’ at a stroke—and it could be extreme politics, since already the British National Party is on record as saying it would put up candidates. This could raise the prospect of a party whose membership precludes an individual being a police officer having control of an entire police force.
“Seeking to make such a damaging change at any time would be bad enough—to seek to do it just at the time when all our efforts should be concentrated on maintaining front-line policing against a background of unprecedented financial problems is totally unjustified.
“The Government’s proposals contain no evidence on the costs of making this change. Already it has been estimated that just the cost of the first elections, proposed for 2012, would be at least £60million. That in itself would pay for a lot of police officers, but it is just the tip of a hugely costly iceberg
“For example, Commissioners would no doubt expect to be paid salaries which reflect their sole responsibility for a vital public service spending millions of pounds. Then there is the cost of the inevitable support structure they would require—and on top of that there is the cost of the support services, payments and expenses for the members of the proposed Police and Crime Panels aimed at providing some sort of check on Commissioners.
“It is little wonder that right across the police service and right across police authorities and members form all political there is a wholesale opposition to these plans. The Government has sought to claim it has a political mandate for its proposals—but in fact in its Election manifesto one of the Coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, far from proposing the abolition of police authorities wanted to strengthen them in order to...and I quote them directly...’Give people a real say over their police force through the direct election of police authorities. Authorities would still be able to co-opt extra members to ensure diversity, experience and expertise.’
“One thing is very clear...it is impossible to ensure ‘diversity’ by putting control in the hands of a single individual which simply goes to again demonstrate why this ill-considered and potentially deeply damaging idea should be abandoned, allowing us all to concentrate on what is really important...protecting front-line services to the public.”
Click here to see letter to Home Secretary
Click here to see Cleveland Police Authority's consultation response