Police told to go and whistle over merger costs

THE abandoned police mergers programme has cost cash-strapped West Sussex a staggering £419,000. The money, which otherwise would have been used to support front-line policing in the county, has been wasted.

The Home Office is to repay only 4m of the 6.5m which police forces throughout the country have claimed for the amount they spent preparing for the mergers, which were abandoned in July.

The mergers were opposed by many forces, including Sussex and Surrey, which claimed 649,000 and 519,000 respectively. But both will get only 100,000 to compensate them for costs involved.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The low pay-put was described as 'regrettable' by the Association of Police Authorities.

"After all, the money police authorities spent was money that would otherwise have been spent on improving local policing for local communities," said chairman Bob Jones.

( For full story see West Sussex Gazette November 1)