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Chaos warning over police plan
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a directly elected supremo to oversee South Yorkshire Police could cause "chaos", former Home Secretary David Blunkett has warned.
The Sheffield Brightside MP has predicted that the so-called Police and Crime Commissioner will spend their time "agonising" over which services to cut - instead of helping to crack down on crime.
He was speaking to The Star after Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled the "most radical reform of policing for 50 years".
Under her plans the South Yorkshire Police Authority - an organisation made up of councillors and independent members which holds the force to account - will be abolished. Instead, an election will take place in May 2012 to appoint a commissioner who will have the power to hire and fire the Chief Constable.
The commissioner, who will be able to serve a maximum of two terms of four years, will be tasked with ensuring the police respond to local priorities and are directly accountable to the public. They will also be responsible for setting the police budget and agreeing the police precept contribution on council tax bills.
Ministers believe the current police authorities are too low-key and hope their reforms will mean the public has someone "on their side" in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.
But Mr Blunkett fears the overhaul will detract from "draconian" funding cuts, which have already seen South Yorkshire Police's budget for frontline policing in 2010/11 cut by 2.8m from the 110.2m agreed by the Labour government in February, with further cuts expected in future years as the Home Office shrinks its budget by at least 25 per cent.
Mr Blunkett said: "Anyone elected to these new super-duper positions will have to spend their time agonising over what has to be cut rather than investing in the protection of people in the community from organised criminality. The coalition government is reorganising everything and the consequence of reorganisation tends to be chaos." He also condemned plans to abolish the Serious and Organised Crime Agency - which he set up - in favour of a new National Crime Agency, covering organised crime, border policing, and child exploitation.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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