Statement from David Pearsall, Chair of Staffordshire Police Authority
“The Police Authority operates within a framework prescribed under legislation originally enacted by the then Government in 1994. Like most other police authorities in the country, Staffordshire Police Authority comprises 17 members, of whom the majority (9), are councillors appointed to serve on the Authority by a Joint Committee of the Staffordshire County Council and the Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The legislation introduced in 1994 prescribed that the political balance of councillors appointed by the Joint Committee to serve on the Police Authority must reflect the political balance on the appointing councils combined, i.e. all the political groups and their respective sizes of membership as represented on both the appointing councils.
The 8 independent members are appointed by the Police Authority following public advertisement and a rigorous selection process (including a Selection Panel with an Independent Assessor and a member appointed by the Home Secretary). Independent members are appointed for terms of four years and hold office under Nolan principles.
At least one independent member must be a magistrate and it is well recognised that members of the Authority who are also magistrates do not take part in any consideration of judicial matters where there could possibly be a conflict of interest.
Whilst the Police Authority itself is not directly elected, all members, regardless of political affiliation, have a duty to represent the communities of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. They carry out this responsibility by consulting and engaging with local communities to ensure the views of people are heard, appreciated and taken into account in the way the Authority goes about its business.
The Authority strives to promote an efficient and effective police service and as such endeavours to be a-political in its approach.
We have already achieved more than £56 m savings since 1999 and this year we are planning on achieving efficiency savings of a further £4.6 m. Indeed, the Staffordshire Police Authority is the top-rated Police Authority in England and Wales for the effective use and management of resources, assessed by the Audit Commission.
By law, the Authority’s budget and precept each year have to be approved by a majority of all 17 members of the Authority and – at the same time – also by a majority of the 9 councillors serving on the Authority.
For the 2010/11 budget and precept, the Police Authority carried out extensive public consultation, including all the local authorities in our area and the business communities. We also consulted our Citizen’s Panel, where 80% of more than 1000 respondents supported a precept rise of about 3.0%. In the light of the responses to our consultations and the current economic climate, the Authority this year approved a 2.8% increase in precept for 2010/11 which aims to protect, as far as we can, front line policing for the communities we serve. Our reserves are entirely within the guidelines recommended by the Audit Commission and are lower than reserves held by most other Police Authorities.
Police pensions are now funded directly by the Home Office and do not form part of the funding for the Police Authority.
Since the introduction of self-standing Police Authorities in April 1995, with statutory duties which include holding the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of police services in our area, and securing an effective and efficient police force, not least through scrutiny of the force’s performance, crime in our area has declined in overall terms by more than 40%.
The Authority firmly believes that a fundamental part of its role is to ensure that the public and communities get the best possible police service from the Staffordshire force and that will remain our objective notwithstanding the period of financial constraint which undoubtedly lies ahead.”
David Pearsall
Chair of Staffordshire Police Authority
1 March 2010
| Issued: | 03/03/2010 |
|---|