Talking of the police … the much-argued about mergers pushed for by previous Home Secretary Charles Clarke look to have stalled.
Cumbria and Lancashire Constabularies and Police Authorities met with the Policing Minister, Tony McNulty, on Monday, 10 July to hear his proposals for their voluntary amalgamation.
Both authorities had previously insisted that the merger would only proceed if the Government was able to provide a solution to the deal-breaker issue of Council Tax harmonisation.
At the meeting, the Minister admitted that he had been unable to provide any solutions. He also conceded that the Government had no other proposals to make and accepted that under these conditions, it would be most unlikely that the amalgamation would now go ahead.
Cumbria and Lancashire representatives expressed their intense disappointment that Government had failed to find a solution to a problem identified many months previously.
The proposed amalgamation was promoted by Government as the means of closing the gap in the provision of protective policing services in the two areas. The Minister said that other avenues were being considered but no solutions were being proposed and it was too early to have any view on how this would be achieved.
The Chair of Cumbria Police Authority, Reg Watson, said: ‘We feel badly let down. We have done everything in our power to get this amalgamation to work. We now have to find other ways of dealing with the problem that Government has left us with.
Chief Constable for Cumbria Constabulary, Michael Baxter said: ‘Staff in both Cumbria and Lancashire Constabularies have worked very hard over recent months towards achieving a successful amalgamation which would be in the interests of both areas. We have already identified many issues that we can take forward in advance of any Government proposals that may emerge. Whilst I am disappointed that amalgamation is now unlikely in the near future, this good work has not been wasted and will be used to improve policing in both areas.’
About cash
In other words, as Mr Baxter said on Radio 4’s Today programme on July 11, it is all about cash; and if the cost of police mergers seems to be putting off the merger of neighbouring Cumbria and Lancashire, other, greater mergers between more than one county force look even less likely, at least in the short term.
Commenting on the withdrawal of The Cumbria and Lancashire forces from merger talks, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg MP said: "Surely this is the nail in the coffin for the Government’s ill-judged and rushed plan to introduce regional police mergers? Government ministers should listen afresh to alternative ideas which meet the same objective of allowing our police forces to pool resources and tackle serious crime.’
