SUSSEX-SURREY POLICE MERGER

Early day motion 2032, tabled 25 April 2006 by Lord Herbert of South Downs (Conservative). Signed by 17 members.

That this House supports the Sussex Police Authority in rejecting the Home Secretary's proposal to merge Sussex and Surrey police forces; notes that Sussex Police already serve over 1.5 million residents and cover 1,500 square miles stretching from Chichester in the West to Hastings in the East; further notes that the Home Office has estimated the cost of a Sussex-Surrey merger at £27 million; further notes that precept equalisation could see council tax payers in Sussex having to pay an extra £19 a year for the same level of policing; believes that police forces should be locally accountable and that merger would inevitably mean that the new Force's chief officers would be more remote from the communities which they are meant to serve; regrets that the Home Secretary did not respond to Sussex Police Authority's case for a federal model for forces in the South East; further notes the Chairman of the Sussex Police Authority's comments that the Home Secretary has failed to provide any constructive answers to its key questions on funding and governance; and calls for a referendum of local people before any merger goes ahead.

Signatures by party: Conservative 15, Liberal Democrat 2.