Police Funding
19th February 2009
It is to be hoped that the Home Office respond positively and quickly to Suffolk Constabulary’s request for repayment of the £160,000 bill incurred during Gordon Brown’s holiday last summer in Waveney and that Bob Blizzard supports their request.
At present the Police in Suffolk are working with one arm behind their back as a result of inadequate government funding and unnecessary red tape.
Suffolk have been given the joint lowest government grant increase in the country and are required to find £3.8 million of savings for each of the next three years, whilst official research show that across the country patrol officers are spending less than one-fifth of their shift on the streets.
It is the public who suffer from Labour’s target-driven-top-down approach to fighting crime. The paperwork that ties officers to their desks should be cut and new arrangements should be put in place so that local communities can work more closely with the Police.
Suffolk Police deserve a fair funding settlement and prompt repayment of this particular expense.
Peter Aldous
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Waveney, Wissett, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 0RA
