POLICE RESTRUCTURING AND THE SOUTH WEST

Early day motion 1008, tabled 11 November 2005 by David Heath (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 26 members.

That this House recognises the need for effective and efficient policing, but also the need for close identification of police forces with the communities they serve; believes artificial agglomeration of existing forces without regard for patterns of crime or local identity to be a retrograde step; considers the consultation to have been entirely inadequate prior to the arbitrary rejection of viable alternatives and the selection of two unacceptable options for the South West; and further believes that neither a police force comprising the current Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Dorset forces, nor a single force covering an area extending from the Isles of Scilly in the west to Christchurch in the east and Tewkesbury in the north, to be an acceptable solution for policing the communities of the South West.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 19, Conservative 4, DUP 2, Labour 1.