Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill

Memoranda submitted by Tracey Rowell (PR 49)

As an ex governor of HM Prison Service, I feel I have some knowledge of the law enforcement and Home Office systems and understand the importance of these organisations.

These plans are flawed for a number of reasons:

1)In a time when finances are scarce it seems ludicrous to waste vast amounts of money on changing a system which works well. When ground floor staff in these roles are losing their jobs it does nothing for morale to then waste money on unnecessary changes.

2)Police authorities are public organisations which require the highest levels of skill and expertise. Only those who have worked in the Police Service have those skills. It should not be up to the public to decide who is suitable for the post. This should remain an internal matter for the government and Home Office. The job they do is too important to risk wild cards becoming "elected" to the post. The general public who have no idea how the Police or other order and control organisations work, do not have the knowledge to make informed decisions on such important matters.

3) The police authorities themselves are against such changes. Why is it politicians feel they are better placed to make these decisions than the experts who actually do a great job of running them? The arrogance of government assuming that they always know best is astounding.

Listen to the police - the people who know what they are talking about and save the tax payer more wasted money that could crucially be spent elsewhere.

January 2011