Police Merger Plans dead

12.49.59pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 13th Jul 2006

Cllrs David Ward, Riaz Ahmed and David Gray welcome the decision not to force police forces to merge

Liberal Democrats in Bradford have welcomed the news that the plans to merge the West Yorkshire Police with the other police forces in the Yorkshire and Humber have almost certainly been abandoned

. "It looks almost certain that these plans are now dead" said Councillor David Ward, Chair of the Bradford north Area Committee

"We believe that the West Yorkshire Police is a high performing force and that merger with other forces could "drag down" rather than "drive up" policing. It looks as if the Government is going to back down and let the police get on with the job we pay them to do.

"We have campaigned hard against the mergers. We are worried about the costs. Other police authorities charge council tax payers more so any merger would mean a hefty hike for tax payers in Bradford without any additional benefit.

"We are also worried about the lack of accountability in the proposed Regional Police Authority as local councillor representation will be substantially reduced. Local people must be able to influence the police authority, A "super-force" based miles away will be remote and unresponsive.

"The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight the government to make sure that these plans are well and truly dead and buried. We will continue to campaign for more local police on our streets and that the police forces remain accountable to local people."