SUSSEX/SURREY POLICE MERGER OFF

"We are delighted that the Government has at last seen sense and that this phenomenally expensive programme will not go ahead. Instead, we will now be able to concentrate our efforts on addressing the real issues of policing, both at local and regional levels.

"Sussex has been at the forefront of the opposition to the mergers, insisting to Dr Reid, the Home Secretary and police minister Tony McNulty and their predecessors, that the sensible way forward is through collaboration of forces, not mergers.

"We recognise the importance of working with our neighbouring forces and we can now move forward with a collaborative solution to address the requirements of improving protective services and identifying efficiency savings across the forces.

"Work that has already been carried out with our colleagues in Surrey, in expectation of a merger, which we can now build on and we will look to develop this work across the region. There are some minor governance issues, but not of the scale that we were facing and the way ahead is much clearer.

"There remains the problem of under funding by central Government of the Sussex Police Authority and Force and if we are to make realistic advances, then this must be addressed. If Sussex was to receive just average funding for a county force, we could offer our Chief Constable over 300 extra police officers.

"We are ready to provide improved modern policing, we are more than able to do so '“ the Government must now provide the funding to enable us to achieve what it is seeking."

Mr Jones went on to praise the work of police officers and staff in Sussex and Surrey.

"They have applied themselves to the extremely tight demands of the failed merger programme, while a degree of uncertainty has hung over their futures. Throughout the last nine months, their approach has remain consummately professional and much of their work will prove extremely valuable as we now move on."