HUGH ROBERTSON URGES THE HOME SECRETARY TO LEAVE KENT'S POLICE ALONE

Hugh Robertson the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent has written personally to the Home Secretary urging him to leave Kent as a stand alone police force.

The letter comes in response to a Home Office Review seeking to cut the number of police forces in Britain by abolishing the existing county based system.
Hugh’s arguments for Kent to remain as a stand alone force are as follows:

(i) Kent has a unique geographical position, as the county closest to Europe.

(ii) Kent has a heavy infrastructure burden including the Channel Tunnel, Dungess Power Station, Channel Ports, M2/M2O/M25 and the Dartford Crossing all need significant local knowledge and experience.

(iii) Kent will experience significant population growth and housing development over the coming decades which will increase the demands on the county’s police.

(iv) Kent is already large enough to support its own force. Indeed, I believe that the combined total of police officers and support staff exceeds the Home Office threshold for a stand-alone force.

(v) Policing in Kent is improving and it would be folly to put this at risk as a result of the uncertainty caused by reorganisation.

Hugh commented: “This proposed reorganisation is part of John Prescott’s regionalisation agenda. This is something that in Kent we do not want and have never voted for. Indeed, if it were put to a ballot, it would be massively rejected.

“Kent is a very particular and different county in many respects and it needs the detailed, local knowledge possessed by a local based police force.

“I urge the Home Secretary to leave Kent’s police force alone.”