HOME SECRETARY MUST LISTEN TO CRITICS OVER POLICE REORGANISATION - LORELY BURT MP
12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 29th Jun 2006
Solihull's MP, Lorely Burt has welcomed the decision of the Home Secretary to delay the formation of regional police forces to allow an extended period of consultation.
Instead of bringing the new forces into being on April 1st 2007 as originally planned, John Reid has bowed to criticism and extended the consultation period over the changes to take further soundings.
Mrs Burt said:
"The Home Secretary must now listen to critics over police reorganisation plans that he has inherited from previous Home Secretaries.
"If the four forces in the West Midlands region had been railroaded into a merger by 2007, it would have been a muddled and expensive operation with inevitable consequences for police performance.
"I am pleased that the Home Secretary has decided to take further soundings from Chief Constables and the public to head off a barrage of criticism, including some Forces taking the matter to judicial review.
"I will continue to seek assurances that the public in Solihull and across the area covered by the current West Midlands Police Force continue to get value for money.
"The Police precept for West Mercia, one of four forces facing merger in the West Midlands region, has risen threefold since 1998/9, and is now double the cost of policing for Council Taxpayers served by the West Midlands Force. Any equalisation of charges will inevitably lead to higher policing charges under the current funding system, and will be a bad deal for the public in our area."
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