PRESS RELEASE
Issued by:
Councillor Stuart Kelly
Leader, Liberal Democrat Group
Date of Issue: August 3rd 2006
Contact numbers:
0151 653 9077
07771 981 045

Millions wasted on ‘yet another Blair gimmicky scheme’

Wirral Liberal Democrats have today slammed the Government's aborted police force mergers.

Councillor Stuart Kelly, leader of the Wirral Liberal Democrat Council Group said,

“Police forces up and down the country have wasted millions of pounds preparing for these mergers. Figures are still not currently available for Merseyside Police Authority. A request for the full cost of the Merseyside Police Merger has been submitted today to the authority under the Freedom of Information Act.

“The money would have been better spent on getting more police on to our streets and tackling crime in our neighbourhoods rather than on another one of Blair's gimmicky schemes.

“But this is what we have come to expect from this Government.

“Instead of tackling the causes of crime as they promised, they rush into knee-jerk solutions that they later have to drop."

In a major U-turn earlier this month the Government scrapped its plans to merge police forces in England and Wales and police authorities are now holding the Home Office accountable for the costs involved.

North Wales police authority plan to charge the Government £375,000 and Yorkshire 's police forces costs are estimated to be around £500,000.

Councillor Kelly added,

“If the mergers had gone ahead it would also have been a ‘double whammy' for local council tax payers: they would have had to stump up more money to pay for the mergers and at the same time lose local control of their forces. A shocking waste of money with very little return for local people.”