Controversial claims over funding cuts made ahead of police commissioner meeting (From Hereford Times)

The West Mercia have been forced into a merger with Warwickshire Police. They, the West Mercia are rich in assets and overloaded with staff whilst Warwickshire have no assests, carrying huge debt and they cant believe there good fortune. They are clinging onto the West Mercia because all the wealth that the West Mercia have generated will bail out Warwickshire.
In short, public money generated by Hereford, Worcester and Shropshire is going to be spent to prop up Warwickshire. And for once, I'm talking sense! This is the reality of this merger.
As for the cuts? They've got to happen. If any of you take a tippy toe up to Hindlip Hall, the headquaters of the West Mercia Police, you'll see a huge, small town like establishment that is a display of massive wealth and a haven for a vast civillian work force that rarely visits the front line.
The Police up and down the Country, who I fully support, have lost their way during the years under Labour. Like most public funded organisations they spent well on buildings, they created a huge job creation excercise and now the bubble has burst. And thats it. It dont matter to which Party you are affiliated to, these cuts will happen because they have to happen.
The Police nationally have got to start addressing the issue of their sacred cow. Blunketts CSO's!
Lovely people they may be but they've gotta go. They have no powers, they have no impact upon 'detected' crime and we cant afford to have window dressing anymore.
Putting an end to the madness of CSO's would be a start in saving money and bringing us back to a point when Policing was straightforward and understandable.
As for the squabbles over who is going to be Police Commissioner, I personally couldn't care less. I dont want us to appoint another public servant who's going to become fat, bloated and celebrated at our expense.

i ,for one, an confused by this new post. what does it mean?
please explain in basic english and not xxx.

more cops please ,not desk people.....

“There was nothing wrong with the old system. Although not directly democratic, a lot of police authority members are themselves elected councillors. The new system ignores the benefits inherent in the stability of the committee system. It is also vastly more bureaucratic and very much more expensive - at a time when belts everywhere else, including front line policing - are being tightened. Each new police commissioner will receive £84,000pa, plus he or she will have a staff .... and expenses .... and so the grave train goes on.
This is change for the sake of change, and is a retrograde step and an additional expense. We don't need it.”
I will not be wasting my time / money voting.

Clam Cakes are also very nice:

1 lb Clam Meat, cooked
3 Eggs
2 cups Bread Crumbs
1 small yellow Onion
1 stalk of Celery
1/2 Red Pepper
1/2 Green Pepper

Chop clam meat leaving it slightly chunky. Chop the vegetables into fine pieces. Over medium heat, sauté the vegetables in a frying pan until vegetables are tender. Pull from heat and let cool. In a large mixing bowl, add the clam meat, sautéed vegetables, bread crumbs, and the 3 eggs. Mix well and form into 3 inch diameter cakes that are about 1 inch thick. Deep fry at 350F until golden brown, or pan-fry until crispy turning cakes to brown both side. Makes about 12 cakes.

Richybeaver Not sure what you are getting at other than we are "jumping from the frying pan into the fire." with the Police Committee V Police Commissioners. I will try the recipe
Bobby 47 I agree with you about Warwickshire Police, for years there have been rumblings about the Force mergers. They lost a chance to join the whole of Warwickshire into West Midlands in the 70s but they only moved Solhull Sutton Coldfield ,Coventry and Chelmsley Wood, to travel from the north of Warwickshire to the south one must travel through Coventry! (Prior to this boundary change Coventry was part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Police for a short time).

Once again my dear friend Richybeaver has illuminated this entire debate and provided an excellent recipe for Clam Cakes.
What Richy is saying is, not only do we not need a Police Commissioner, we need to eat more Clams. The Clams have been getting away with it for years and we've gotta start consuming them.
For my part, I've never met a Clam I liked. Horrid little things. This world would be a whole lot better without Clams. It's about time someone like Richy stood up and said this openly instead of us all muttering on the bus to work, 'My God I hate the Clam'.
Lads, to the beach'es, gather up them Clams and send them a clear message, 'we aint putting up with it anymore'.
And for you Councillors reading these Postings, I think you now realise exactly what and who you are up against.

Take a look at the 'Independent' candidate. Not a politician, wants nothing to do with politics, and not in it for the money. This is a man who cares about the police service and is dismayed at its current demise and wants to do something about it. See www.bill4pcc.co.uk