Labour campaigner Rob Brown writes here….
…. “I think it is vital to keep a local police force based in Rochford. The front desk closing represents the first blow to the local police force. I am delighted that so far the station is not closing completely and I will continue to pressure the police authority to try to ensure that they do not close the station completely. I fear it will only be a matter of time”….
Perhaps Trevor P has a view on police responses ?
The biggest ‘threat’ to policing is not closing under-used police stations but the scale of change being proposed by Essex Police for March 2012.
The police appear to be changing most operations. Southend & Rochford will then come under the command of Basildon and experience has shown that the further away the command, then the worse the service.
They also plan to ‘swap’ 25-30% of Neighbourhood Officers (i.e. village bobbies) losing over a quarter of local knowledge for no clear benefit and increasing the scale of change, making it riskier. To put this in to context, Hockley will loose its entire line of police command from PC to Area Sergeant, to Area Inspector, to District Chief Inspector to Chief Superintendent.
This is a colossal loss of local knowledge all in one go and is happening across the county. At a time when numbers are being cut (a £41m budget reduction, which is equal to about 6/7 weeks of their budget), knowledge is needlessly being destroyed.
Orginally, the police planned to move most of the Neighbourhood officers across the county but cut this back following complaints by the HRA. While the police do need to make budget cuts, these ‘swaps’ do not save money and do nothing to improve policing. The HRA is still pressing the police to review the phasing of these enforced changes and remain concerned that they cannot manage the scale of change. I hope we are proved wrong.
I take it that this Robert Brown (‘RB’) is one and the same SOUTHEND resident that would like to be a Labour Councillor for ROCHFORD Ward in the Rochford District, and is in SO regular correspondence with the Southend Echo?
I noted his latest missive published there today, criticising a Southend BC Councillor for daring to suggest that publicly spirited residents (obviously more so compared with RB) do their bit by volunteering to clear snow when or if it falls in their neighbourhood. Apparently RB feels this would put workers out of paid employment. Labour, and RB apparently, simply still does not get it, so were he ever elected what a shock he would have to discover the desperate budget realities which his party left for the Coalition to face. Perhaps he would do best to discover and adapt the words of the late President Kennedy’s inaugural address, ‘…….ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.’
The Police have just updated their web-pages for the area. Rayleigh is now shown as having PCs Tuck, Clubb & Smith plus PCSOs Bowen and Gammon. Does that accord with local understanding?
Incidentally, PCSO is supposed to be in Hockley according to the local Chief Super!
Police responses could definitely be better. Serious issues still get a quick response. You can’t cut back and cut back and not have these effected though!
Thre is a serious issue here of when private individulas can help and when the public sector has to take responsibility. e.g while I may clear my section of pavement and that of my elderly neighbour can I really be expected to clear any more than this. It is important to have peolpe putting forward the alternative view. This ensures clarity of thought from our Councillors when justifying decisions they make. Which of course they should be doing. But I accept it is easier to be in opposition than part of those making the decisions.
Bruce – Sorry if I’ve missed your point but I haven’t the faintest idea what your post is about.
Haha ….. agreed Rayleigh Resident 🙂
Where does the responsibility of the individual end and the local authority take over? see e.g of clearing snow. What can we reasonably expect people to do on a volutary basis?
I think Bruce is referring to another posrting on the Rochford Labour site:
http://labourinrochford.com/2011/12/15/shovels-at-the-ready/
Bruce, I would expect people to do what ever is reasonable, do you really need guidelines as an adult ? This is exactly why the country has gone mad on elf & safety etc. Just man up and get on with it.
Cllr Colin Seagers is wrong.
I do not live in Southend. I live in Hockley. I have family and friends in Rochford. I was born in Rochford hospital and am regularly in and around the area. It may be of note that neither Cllr Cottis nor Cllr Keith Gordon live in Rochford Ward either (I by no means wish to smear them merely making a comparison). In fact the Labour Party in the Eastern region does not allow candidates to be selected in local authorities that they are not resident in, a policy not matched by the Conservative Party.
I am not against people clearing paths of snow, I in fact have defended the councils record on snow clearence. I think it would be useful if people cleared their own paths and those around them to be nice neighbours. I was not trying to prescribe rules as such just warning people of the weather warnings that had been in the local news. However the council does have a responsibility to keep public areas safe.
As for realities of budgets I could say a whole host of things, best left for another forum however.
What is interesting of course is that Cllr Seagers spent more time trying to smear me than come up with solutions regarding the snow or indeed regarding the police station.
Rayleigh resident has missed the point.
I do not mind helping where I can but there must be limits to what the private individual is expected to do. The question I am asking is where this line is to be drawn.
Further to my email correspondence with Mr Rob Brown I am delighted to report his assurances that he has no connection whatsoever with the Robert Brown of Northumberland Avenue, Southend who was credited with writing the letter to the Southend Echo published on 13th December, which my comment of that date referred to, and I sincerely apologise for all distress that I unfortunately caused to Rob Brown.
However, regarding Rob Brown’s subsequent reply here, he should be made well aware that the problem of preventing police station closures is neither within the compass of any individual District Councillor to solve, nor indeed of RDC as a whole, it being a Police Authority matter. His blog had very wrongly implied that neither James Duddridge MP nor District Councillor Keith Gordon disagrees or objected to the suggested closures. That assertion is plainly NOT true, as both did voice their unhappiness with the proposals for the District and endeavoured to suggest means to address the problem. If Rob has any other workable ideas as to how closures may be prevented by me or RDC, he should explain for the benefit of RDC residents (and of SBC too) as a whole. I for one would certainly be grateful to listen and so would many other RDC Members no doubt. Ditto re solutions to snowfall which are principally an ECC Highways matter – beyond perhaps the uttering of cheap but rather unproven Canute style commands!!! (Unlike the legend of his stupidity, Canute was actually intent on demonstrating the futility of uttering such undeliverable commands.)
Let me also assure Rob that the budget constraints for local authorities are very real indeed in the wake of the previous Labour Government’s profligacies, and they must now be addressed by the Coalition nationally and by RDC locally no matter what, despite unfortunately most of those past profligacies having tended to favour Labour’s friends in the North rather than RDC residents.
Many Thanks for correcting the initial comment Cllr Seagers; I hope you realise that you attributed completely different views to me as well a incorrect address. You would do well to check your facts before smearing people in future. Also if you think I was wrong in my blog you could have comented there, it would have been more polite.
As for policy I will address that when I have more time, in a place that is more appropriate than the comment section of a liberal democrat blog, although I have in the past explained how we could pay for the police station. But in the meantime go and check what your MP has said in the media on the matter of the police station, apparently you will be suprised.
Bruce – without getting into an endless on-line debate I have not missed the point at all, you can never legistate for every eventuality or issue. That is why you use common sense and draw your own limits, whatever they may be however I am afraid that common sense is not always common practice.
Nice to see Councillor Seagers toeing the national party line, because – of course – the Tories didn’t match Labour’s spending plans up until the financial crisis in 2008 did they? Oh, wait. They did. Mr Cameron even going as far as saying “these spending plans are tight, we’d match them pound for pound.” So do us all a favour and put the profligacy argument to bed, because it’s a complete nonsense and Rochford residents like me are sick and tired of hearing you try and shirk responsbility by blaming Labour.
But seeing as you’ve framed your pathetic smear on Mr Brown in a national context, I’ll quite happily vote Labour next time because of the mess your party has made of the economy by cutting spending far too quickly and choking off growth. Are you aware, Mr Seagers, that your party are now borrowing MORE than Labour would have been? This is because – without growth – you’re unable to reduce the deficit.
You have a go at Mr Brown for Labour’s alleged mishandling of the economy but then shirk responsibility when it comes to the police station as it “is beyond your control”. Last time i checked it was Gordon, not Robert, Brown in the Treasury, so at worst you’re a hypocrite and at very best you’re just plain lazy. Are you unable to run a campaign?
I will quite happily lay the blame for the closure of the police station at your door. As a Conservative, it is your party that is responsible for the mess this country is in economically. Having cut too quickly, raised VAT and killed consumer and business confidence, you’ve not alienated our main trading partner, the EU. Well done. The police station is the least of our worries.
Mr Smith kindly demonstrates the Labour Party is STILL in denial, and that they would have the Coalition place the UK in the same situation that overtook Greece and is now rapidly overtaking not only the rest of the PIIGS, but apparently threatens even the more core Eurozone nations which refuse to recognise the anti-democratic drawbacks of their proposed solution for their single currency mania. But why should we be surprised when like the failed Greek government Labour also mismanaged and falsified its nation’s accounts? Remember the ‘no money left, we’ve spent it all’ note now Mr Smith? The question should be who in their right mind would now have lent anything to (heaven forbid) another Labour government?
And suddenly according to Mr Smith it seems Rob Brown and his police station rant is unimportant too, so we are left to wonder why local elected politicians were so pathetically smeared in the first place by Rob Brown and now Mr Smith for something they are given no powers of control over?
I think this site is great to see what is happening locally and to keep up with developments. In my opinion the posts ( above ) add nothing whatsoever and are best taken up outside of this forum. Maybe the Southend Echo ?
and a Happy New Yeeaaaarrrrr.
Calm down chaps!
What a shame that a meaningful debate on a key issue has been sidetracked by party politics. Essex faces massive police changes that will impact us all e.g. control is moving from Southend to Basildon under a completely new team; police stations are closing; whilst 25-30% of Neighbourhood officers are moving, destroying intelligence led policing, at a time when manpower is being reduced. Whilst local policiticans do not control this process, it would be more helpful if everyone exerted positive pressure on the Chief Constable to review the extent and scale of the unnecessary changes.
I don’t know if this is David Cameron’s “Big Society” or Nick Clegg’s “Open Society” but lets all pull together for once in the common interest.
Merry Xmas all.