MP: Town used as ‘cash cow’ to fund police

SOUHPORT MP Damien Moore has accused Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner of using the town’s residents as a “cash cow”.

The Conservative MP issued an angry response after Jane Kennedy launched a consultation on plans to increase the policing precept part of council tax.

She said that the money would be used to protect 100 police officer jobs and recruit 40 new officers and that, even with the potential increase, the force will still be forced to make savings of more than £7m over the next 12 months.

It comes as the Government’s brutal austerity measure continue to take strain on the police service, which Ms Kennedy says has been forced to make cuts of £103m since 2010.

She is proposing the increase after Policing Minister Nick Hurd revealed that Merseyside police would receive no extra government funding next year and must instead raise additional funds through council tax.

If carried out, council tax payers on Band A – the lowest and most common rate in Merseyside – would face increases of 15p a week, or £8 per year.

Ms Kennedy said: “This is a step which I am reluctant to take; however, if I don’t raise the policing element of local council tax, then Merseyside police will be penalised and our communities adversely affected.

“This money will be used to save police officer jobs and help us to recruit 20 new armed officers who are needed to help tackle the scourge of serious and organised crime on Merseyside and to protect our communities.

“The Government did not bother to ask people if they would be willing to contribute more for policing before they made this announcement – instead, they arrogantly assumed that local residents could stump up the cash.

“I know finances are tight for a lot of people on Merseyside at the moment, so I don’t ask for this tax rise lightly.”

But mr moore accused the Commissioner, and the Labour Party she represents, of treating Southport with disdain, and claimed that Southport has been left to become an “easy catch” for criminals.

He was angered by the decision not to hold a consultation meeting in Southport and argued the town’s residents wouldn’t benefit from the extra police funding.

Six consultation events were scheduled, one each in Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, and Wirral and two in Liverpool

Mr Moore said: “Once again, my constituents are being asked by a Labour Party representative to be a cash cow for something they will not benefit from.

“Residents in Southport know that, by falling under a Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, and being on the cusp of Merseyside, police officers are too often diverted to Liverpool, leaving Southport prone to crimes being committed from those who see it as an easy catch.

“When the Labour commissioner asks Southport residents for more money, she is doing so with full knowledge that Southport is neither the cause nor recipient of this additional funding.

“The commissioner isn’t even holding a consultation in Southport, which shows the distain Labour have for our town.

“Residents here will have to travel to Bootle to speak with her.

“I have written to the commissioner to request a straightforward answer as to whether any of these 40 new posts will be created in Southport, and to provide a guarantee that forces will not be called to Liverpool.”

The consultation runs until February 3 and can be accessed online at merseysidepcc.info