Police Authority Meeting

Today's Police Authority meeting started on a very sombre note with a minute's silence to mark the passing of our much respected colleague Councillor Ted Sheldon MBE who died last week after a short illness.  Many tributes were paid to Ted echoing the thoughts of many others outside the police family.

I have worked closely with Ted over the last four years, not least on the Citizen Focus panel where Ted was a leading light having been the chair of the South Worcestershire Policing Board for many years.

Always entertaining, erudite and wise - Ted will be sorely missed.

Back to the meeting itself and the agenda covered many areas of policing as usual but in particular we discussed the Government's plans to replace Police Authorities with Police and Crime Commissioners.  In the main we tried to consider potential risks and how they might be mitigated.  Many meetings have been held with local MPs to ensure that they are well briefed and I am setting up meetings with Philip Dunne and Owen Patterson myself.  My concerns about the new arrangements are specific and grave - my guess is that however well expressed and sincerely held these concerns are (across the whole police family) the coalition will press ahead anyway, but I feel that I owe it to the public I serve to make every effort to make our elected representatives understand that this is a very bad idea indeed.

With the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review being announced next month, I was pleased to hear the Chief Constable and Chairman of the Police Authority both publicly state their support for PCSOs within West Mercia.  They are now a vital part of the local policing landscape and the public value their contribution greatly.

Finally, I was delighted to support the recommendation from the Executive Board that public questions will now be part of Police Authority meetings.  Excellent news and a step towards even greater openness and engagement with the community.