SUSSEX POLICE SAYS 'NO' TO VOLUNTARY MERGER

SUSSEX Police Authority will not agree to a voluntary merger with neighbouring Surrey as key questions over the funding and governance of a new force remain unanswered by Government.

Meeting in Lewes on Friday (April 7) members heard that chairman, Peter Jones and deputy chief constable, Geoff Williams, had met the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, on March 20, along with representatives of other south-east police authorities and forces.

In a 21-minute meeting he advised them that while Hampshire, Kent and Thames Valley were to remain as stand alone forces, he had concluded that Sussex and Surrey should merge to form a new strategic force.

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He indicated that if the two forces were to merge voluntarily, then the new force could come into being as soon as April 1, 2007, but if he was forced to use his powers of direction, then a four month period of objections would commence on April 10 this year with the likely implementation of the new force in April 2008.

Cllr Jones said: "Although Sussex is prepared to take a forward-thinking role in the development of policing in the south-east, the Home Secretary has not responded to our case for a federal model for the region's forces or provided any constructive answers to our key questions on funding and governance.

"Sussex is open to the prospect of change and we have confidence in our Force to effectively deliver those changes, but the proposal to merge two of the lowest-funded forces in the country without a significant increase in funding is highly questionable. Government's estimates of the cost of merger are some 10 million below our own and there has been little regard for the implications for Sussex council tax payers who will have to bear an 18% increase just to maintain the level of policing that they enjoy now.

"The Sussex policing precept for a Band D property in 2006-07 is 115, while Surrey's is 163 and Sussex has a higher proportion of lower and fixed income residents who are likely to be hit hard by the costs of a merger.

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"From an operational point of view, the case for merger is focussed centrally on the need to improve protective services such as counter-terrorism activities, road policing, major and cross border crime and shared resources such as human resources and information technology.

However, in the meeting with the Home Secretary he said that collaboration between a merged Sussex/Surrey force and other forces in the South East region would be welcomed, effectively acknowledging that his proposals do not provide an optimum solution to the proposal."

Chief Constable Joe Edwards said: "We put forward a number of options to improve strategic capacity and most of the permutations included a future with Surrey Police. We have a great deal in common with our neighbour including our shared commitment to deliver excellence in local policing. We recognise that the resilience of local policing is directly affected by operational resilience in tackling the higher risk business of policing, such as counter terrorism and serious and organised crime."

While dismissing a voluntary merger, members nevertheless agreed that it would be prudent for the Authority and Sussex Police to be prepared for an enforced merger. In this eventuality, Sussex would take a constructive role in the establishment of a new Authority and Force to ensure that a merger delivers real benefits in terms of policing at a reasonable price for council tax payers in Sussex and Surrey.