Why police group must be axed

Councillor Jones, a member of the Sussex Police Authority (SPA), said the group was failing to reach out to young people and ethnic minorities and needed to be replaced with a more inclusive police consultation system.

PCCGs across the county were dismayed last month when the Police Authority announced they were to be closed from January.

The Bexhill group, which meets four times a year at the town hall to discuss crime and policing, said the public will lose its voice and the valuable relationship it has established with senior local officers.

Chairman Frank Strickland is concerned the Police Authority has provided no concrete plans to replace the group. It has mooted the idea that two public meetings will be held each year to be chaired by an SPA member but Mr Strickland says that's inadequate.

Addressing the meeting, Cllr Jones said: "At 57 years old, I am one of the youngest people in this room. There are three members of the public here tonight.

"That does not constitute in-depth consultation because Bexhill has a population of 40,000.

"Consultation is not just about reaching out to one group in society and the Police Authority has to find more effective ways to reach out to everyone. We can't expect people to come to us."

But Frank Strickland said people did come to the meetings when there was something of concern on the agenda and at times up to 50 members of the public have attended.

At nearly every meeting a presentation was given by someone from the police about a specific area of their work which members found extremely valuable.

Councillor Jones said local groups represented on the PCCG could still have their say by working with organisations such as Rother's Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy.

He added the PCCG could be replaced by more inclusive consultation procedures such as surveys and citizens panels and that the new public meetings would be more heavily publicised.

He went on: "One thing that concerns the Police Authority is that officers are having to spend too much time attending committees and are taken away from real police work too much.

"We have created too many groups and we have to narrow that down to make them more effective.

"The PCCG is not a statutory body whereas organisations like the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy are. We want to make these more high profile.

"It is sad to be saying goodbye but I hope we can do it in a pleasant way and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has been involved over the years on behalf of the Police Authority."