From: "Paul & Ann Isherwood", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Nine grand for how many officers ? Nine grand may not sound a lot but if
it's for only four or five officers that's a significant sum for each
individual officer ... can that be justified ? Add to that sum the money
provided by the Home Office and you have a very significant additional cost
per ACPO member per year which really does require some justification.
Regards,
Paul
--
The way it works is that under Section 57 of the Police Act 1996
the Home Office makes grants to ACPO to maintain relations or something
like that. Police authorities chip in about 30-40% of the cost.
The general idea is that ACPO is some thinktank which helps the police
out with policy decisions, but there is already an entire branch of
the Home Office dedicated to that, so I cannot see the point at all.
ACPO is 98% taxpayer funded, which goes far beyond maintaining relations
with the police, it is a quasi-governmental institution, but not bound
by the same rules.
Every time they come out with some policy it is roundly criticised by
all and sundry, as with this speed limit thing Transport 2000 is
getting worked up about.
My view is essentially that ACPO is a lobby group, and it is fundamentally
wrong for such a group to be funded by the taxpayer especially when the
members are not accountable to the public in the same way a civil servant
would be. Of course the PCA and the police authorities can take action
against police members of ACPO, but not for anything they may have done
in regards to ACPO, only their official duties.
At the very least ACPO desperately needs to tell the public precisely
what it is they are doing that justifies �1.4 million of our money being
spent on them every year.
Steve.
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