At your service (From York Press)

At your service

12:14pm Saturday 6th October 2007

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With a determination to improve the police service that residents and visitors of North Yorkshire and the city of York receive, as well as improve the service that our valued and dedicated officers and staff work for, North Yorkshire Police Authority (NYPA) made a hard decision to increase the council tax precept by a memorable 76 per cent in 2003/04.

The Press readers know that history well, but readers also know the changes and progress that we have been able and continue to make by putting the service on a stable financial footing.

As Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell has said, we have achieved a great deal in a short space of time. Reduced crime; increased sanctions and offenders bought to justice; greater visibility and reassurance through increased numbers of officers and staff and the consolidation of embedded safer neighbourhood teams.

We have listened to the things you have said you wanted to see and are continuing to work with the chief constable to provide the strategic framework for further improvements.

Together with the chief, we want to keep improving, to keep listening and to keep providing the best possible service for our communities. Any depletion in central funding would put that focus in jeopardy.

The chief constable is in charge of the day-to-day operational policing of the service; the police authority is responsible for ensuring that he has the adequate resources and budget to do that job in a sustainable way. Each year, we have control over the precept level (subject to capping' conditions), and have to accept what we are given by the Government - a grant that is already one of the lowest in the country when worked out per head of population.

This year is a little different and we have welcomed the opportunity to respond to the proposals as honestly as possible. If the full effect as detailed in our response is not fully appreciated, then we could be looking at impacts in the service that we are able to deliver.

Whatever the outcome of the consultation on these proposals, it is right that our communities remain informed of progress and our website www.nypa.org.uk will be updated regularly for anyone interested.

We are working for you, and with you, to build on the solid foundations that we have already put in place. We will continue our discussions with the Government and hope that the rural interests of North Yorkshire and the city of York are not forgotten in the bigger picture.

• by Jane Kenyon
  Chairwoman of the North Yorkshire Police Authority

Press campaign takes to the streets

The Press took the Fund Our Force campaign to the streets of York again to collect hundreds more signatures from local shoppers.

The petition aims to stop the Government from cutting up to £10 million in police funding in North Yorkshire.

The proposed cuts, which could lead to around 300 job losses in the region, are being strongly opposed by the local community.

Hilda Winterburn, of York, was concerned over the possible reduction of officers in the city: "It's one of the most important things.

"We need the police to help people feel safe."

And shopper Richard Lawrence questioned the logic of the funding cuts: "The priority of policing is to prevent crime before it happens by being visible in the local community, and you can't do that when the Government are going to cut 300 jobs."

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