Government trying to silence me – police boss
AN explosive war of words has erupted after the region’s police chief claimed there were plans to “silence and discredit” him for his consistent campaigning against police cuts.
David Jamieson said there were concerns that moves to remove the role of Police and Crime Commissioner – and give extra powers to the region’s elected mayor – were being done ‘without rigorous consultation’.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) met to agree a process for combining the position of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) with the mayoralty in time for the 2020 elections.
T h e combi- nation of the two roles was a condition set out in the government’s second devolution deal with the West Midlands earlier this year. The combined authority failed to reach an agreement during the meeting, with the matter deferred for further work until September. However, Mr Jamieson has hinted that the entire process may be an attempt to silence him in his criticisms of government policing cuts. “Concerns were raised that the mayor wanted to take over policing without rigorous consultation,” he said. “We now have no timetable for a potential merger of the PCC and mayoral roles. The Home Office stated that the timetable is five times tighter than the changes that took place in Manchester. I struggle to see how the work can be done in time. I wrote to the mayor and Policing Minister in March setting out the process. It is unfortunate in the extreme that we didn’t receive a formal reply until June.
“If the mayor had focused on this issue, he would not be in the position he is now in.
“Some are now saying this is merely an effort to try and silence and discredit me because of my consistent campaigning against policing cuts.”
But the plans were defended by a Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield) who said similar changes had already taken place in Manchester and London, where they had been a success.
Mr Mitchell said: “This is nothing to do with the personalities involved.”
He pointed out that the changes were included in a deal agreed in 2017 between the Government and the seven local councils which make up the West Midlands Combined Authority. Most of these councils are Labour-run.
Similar changes had taken place in London and Greater Manchester, where both the mayors were Labour politicians, he said.
He said: “We are behind the curve on this, because in both London and in Manchester the mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner have been combined, to generally agreed good effect.
“I welcome the move towards the amalgamation, which has been agreed cross party by the West Midlands Combined Authority, and hope that proposals for this amalgamation will come to fruition shortly, and in any event by the mayoralty elections to be held in 2020.”
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has agreed a process for combining the position of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) with the mayoralty in time for the 2020 elections.