Plans for local policing flawed

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 17th Jul 2008

Commenting on the police reform green paper, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"Ending central targets, more local policing and local accountability is the right way forward, but the details of this plan are flawed.

"Electing only one person per borough or district to police authorities will create appalling geographical distortion with Tories wiped out in the North and Labour wiped out in the South. These plans will also systematically under-represent both women and ethnic minorities.

"There is nothing in this paper that addresses the urgent need for a consensus on what works to cut crime. We need less heat and more light in this debate. One reason why the public think crime is rising when it is falling is the toxic battle between Labour and the Tories on populist measures.

"We need an agency assessing the most effective police and criminal justice measures much as NICE does with treatments in the health service.

"The police should be allowed to get on with the job of catching criminals, which all the research shows is the most effective deterrent to crime."