12/05/2004

I think it is fair to point out that this impression has been given greater weight by the comments of some individuals in high public positions who, frankly, should have made more of an effort to check their facts before rushing into print and comment.

I make no apologies for saying that I believe that the opposite is the case and that, when the headlines have died away, people will discover that the image generated in the media and by some individuals is a travesty of the true position.

I would simply ask people to consider a few facts.

Fact one is that, throughout my period as chair of the authority, I have made as my number one priority the need to maximise the resources available for front-line policing to get police officers and community support officers out on streets, tackling the kinds of crime which blights the lives of so many law-abiding people.

I believe I have delivered on that priority, and I am proud to say that when I leave the authority in the near future it will be with the force having more officers than it has ever had in its history.

Fact two is that, whilst it is the Police Authority's job to maximise the resources, it is the responsibility of the Chief Constable to decide how those resources should be used in fighting crime.

The most obvious measure as to how effectively resources are being deployed is whether crime is going up or down, and again I am proud of the fact, that for much of the period of my chairmanship, we have been able to drive down crime in many key areas, even when we were in the midst of Operation Lancet.

Fact three is that, throughout the vast majority of my terms as chair, we have been able to maintain the budget on an even keel at the same time as maximising the resources going into the front line. Given that fact, it might be worth examining why we have found ourselves in the position which has come to light over recent weeks.

The answer is, I believe, simple: financial control and the lack of it. I think it is fair to suggest that, in the past, the force's senior management took the view that the most effective use of resources was to work on limited balances and ensure that spending was very tightly monitored and controlled. The two had to go hand-in-hand and it worked.

So what has changed? Well I think you need look no further than the findings of the Audit Commission report on what I believe amounted to be little short of a collapse in the force's internal budget monitoring processes over the past year.

Of course, I am not trying to pretend that previously things were perfect, but what is undoubtedly the case is that the combination of tight control of spending coupled with tight balances did work and that we avoided the kind of situation which has come to light in recent weeks.

Fact four is that the needs of this area mean that it must have its own locally-accountable police service. There are those who would like to see it amalgamated, perhaps with one of our neighbouring forces or perhaps into some kind of 'regional' operation. That would be disastrous for tackling crime in the Cleveland area. The social and economic pressures here are completely different than in, say, Durham or North Yorkshire, and in reality we have always suffered from being treated as a 'shire' force rather than being recognised as much more like the 'metropolitan' forces which face similar crime levels to our own.

If there is one challenge I would hope that my successor can tackle, it is gaining that proper recognition of our needs - and the resources to tackle those needs. - Councillor Ken Walker, Chair, Cleveland Police Authority.

SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

THERE have been recent comments about Christian assemblies in our schools, and the decline in Christian teaching.

I fully believe we need to get back to teaching our children the three specific truths that used to be taught - albeit sometimes parrot fashion.

1. The Ten Commandments - basic rules for life (Exodus 20).

2. Psalm 23 - the nature of God.

3. The Lord's Prayer - which includes the need to forgive and receive forgiveness (Matt. 6).

The present decline in the lack of discipline cannot be halted by legislation or curfews, but by a change of heart. Bring back love and compassion. - Joyce Stewart, Northallerton.

ALAN MILBURN

TWENTY years ago, former Tory minister Norman Tebbit was given a directorship of British Telecom after having being involved in its privatisation.

He was rightly accused of 'lining his pocket' by a leading Labour MP.

When Alan Milburn is given a £30,000-a-year job by a company involved in privatisation projects in the health service, it is approved by the New Labour-appointed Parliamentary advisory committee without hesitation.

Unlike health service care assistants, who, with great dedication, look after senile patients for a miserable £4.20 per hour, Mr Milburn will earn this fat cat salary by merely attending three meetings per year.

This works out at about £4,000 per hour, more than a care assistant earns flogging his or her guts out in six months.

These sort of appointments are beyond contempt and it is a rotten economic and political system that allows it to happen.

An MP should work for constituents and for constituents only. Other workers are not allowed to moonlight, so why should they?

If an MP can't manage on a salary of over £1,000 per week then he should resign and allow a more conscientious person to take over. - John Gilmore, Bishop Auckland.

TONY BLAIR

I WAS brought up in the North-East but had to flee from Mrs Thatcher's paradise isle when she had four million out of work.

I would have thought her greatest ever achievement was to make the Tories unelectable in her lifetime.

But Mr Blair, the "New Labour" leader, seems determined to prove this theory wrong. Is there anyone in the UK who still believes a word he, or his Yes Minister cronies, utter?

After the damage his party has done to the UK's reputation worldwide, I think most would see a return of Mrs Thatcher as an improvement.

Thank God for Oz. - J Richmond, Stirling, Western Australia.