Mounting opposition to costs of the McCann review

Lord Harris

He said: "What we are looking at is a case where the Met has no direct responsibility. There is clearly an issue about the resources being used."

Harris, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, added: "It's not just a question of direct costs - it's a question of opportunity costs too.

What Harris means by "Opportunity costs" are all of the other benefits/opportunities that are now lost because those resources have been allocated to the McCanns.

For example millions that COULD have been spent on child protection, saving lives, purchasing desperately needed equipment for hospitals, keeping members of the armed forces in their jobs etc. Instead the money has been diverted to search for a child who is deceased and whose parents were suspects in her disappearance!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As a public sector accountant I am furious about this decision! Why is this a special case ? Because the Sun says so? Is that how we allocate resources now? What happened to the Value for Money test for tax payers? Does this rank higher in importance than spend in Afganistan?

A police source said: “The money is ring-fenced and is an emergency grant put to one side by the Home Office. “It will be made available to the ­Metropolitan Police specifically for the review of the Madeleine McCann case.” Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I see Ben Needhams mother is asking for the same treatment for ALL missing children. The McCanns have already had CEOP helping - the video appeal is still there although out of date.

I feel a letter to a newspaper comming on!

BBC Radio 4 'Today programme' this morning 8.30am to 8.40am - debate between Jenny Jones of the Metropolitan Police Authority and Trevor Kavanagh of the Sun - well worth a listen on 'Listen Again'.

Jenny Jones and other members of the Police Authority are going to try to take action to STOP this £3.5 million review going ahead, pointing out that their biudged is already committed and that the money will have to be taken form elsewhere.

Trevor Kavanagh was defensive about the role of News International/Rupert Murdoch in all this.

Now would be a very good time to contact members of the Met Police Authority!


ETA

OPPOSITION MOUNTS

Daily Telegraph article today:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Cheshire Cat wrote:Lord Harris
Instead the money has been diverted to search for a child who is deceased and whose parents were suspects in her disappearance!

i wonder what the mccanns response to this will be

to search for a child who is deceased and whose parents were suspects in her disappearance

its statements like this we need to hear more of instead of suspect kates fears visions and bad dreams and sex life



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Tony Bennett wrote:BBC Radio 4 'Today programme' this morning 8.30am to 8.40am - debate between Jenny Jones of the Metropolitan Police Authority and Trevor Kavanagh of the Sun - well worth a listen on 'Listen Again'.

Jenny Jones and other members of the Police Authority are going to try to take action to STOP this £3.5 million review going ahead, pointing out that their biudged is already committed and that the money will have to be taken form elsewhere.

Trevor Kavanagh was defensive about the role of News International/Rupert Murdoch in all this.

Now would be a very good time to contact members of the Met Police Authority!


ETA

OPPOSITION MOUNTS

Daily Telegraph article today:

[url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/8513574/David-Cameron-is-accused-of-meddling-over-Madeleine-McCann.html

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

When we speak of the Government using "reserves" for the war in Afganistan what it really means is that the surplus from other Government departments, say for example the Home Office, are reallocated to pay for the cost of current military operations. By utilising the Homeoffice surplus to pay for a review, for which the terms of reference are not yet clearly defined, is to deny the benefit of this surplus money to the defence budget or indeed to any other cash strapped departments!

Outrageous!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Police Federation: Officers hit from all sides by cuts

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] The Police Federation represents rank and file officers in England and Wales
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Related Stories

• [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
  

Rank and file officers feel they are being "hit from all sides" by spending cuts, the Police Federation has said.
Its chairman, Paul McKeever, said proposed changes could push their terms and conditions "back decades".
And he said a survey of officers showed most believed cutting police numbers would have an impact on crime levels.
Home Secretary Theresa May, who will address the body on Wednesday, told the BBC ministers were helping cut police bureaucracy and backroom spending.
The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers and starts its conference next week, has published its own survey of 42,000 police officers in England and Wales ahead of Mrs May's speech.
It showed 98% of respondents believed morale was falling amid proposed changes to pay and conditions and job cuts.
'Don't destroy it'
The federation said 85% of respondents felt cutting police numbers would have an impact on crime levels.
Mr McKeever said: "Let's improve policing, not destroy it. The government must listen to these views from the front line and give the public and the police the opportunity to shape a police service that is appropriate for the future and able to deliver what is expected of it."
He said the Police Federation accepted that policing must "play its part" in public sector cuts - but said the government should "have the courage of their convictions and establish a royal commission on policing".
The coalition's Spending Review cut central government funding to police in England and Wales by 20% over five years. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
“Start Quote

People talk a lot about police numbers, as if police numbers are the holy grail. But, actually what matters is what those police are doing”

End Quote Theresa May Home Secretary


Some forces will be less affected than others because of the proportion of their budget raised through council tax.
The chief inspector of constabulary (HMIC) warned earlier this year that some forces face a "big challenge" to make cuts without losing frontline officers.
The Association of Chief Police Officers has estimated that 28,000 police jobs will go over the next four years - 12,000 front-line officers and 16,000 civilian staff.
And a review of police pay and conditions has recommended a range of allowances and special payments be scrapped to save £485m over three years.
On Sunday Mrs May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that the findings of the Tom Winsor review were going through the police negotiating process.
But she said when pay made up 80% of police expenditure, and cuts were being made to tackle the deficit, it was "right to look at pay, terms and conditions".
Asked repeatedly whether she accepted Acpo's estimate that 12,000 officers' jobs would go, she said it was up to chief constables to decide how to structure their staff.
But she said the government was helping forces cut costs by reducing bureaucracy to save "man hours" and by helping them with back room costs like IT procurement.
"People talk a lot about police numbers, as if police numbers are the holy grail. But, actually what matters is what those police are doing. It's about how those police are deployed," she told the BBC.
"We want police officers to be crime fighters, not filling in forms."
'In denial'
But her Labour shadow, Yvette Cooper, said she was "in denial" about job cuts.
"It is her own 20% front-loaded cuts to the police that are responsible for 12,500 police officers and thousands more police staff being lost across the country.
"It is her responsibility that thousands of experienced officers are being forced to retire when they want to stay protecting the public and it is her responsibility that these forced retirements cost the taxpayer more not less."
A Home Office spokesman said the government's priority was dealing with the budget deficit and as the police spent £14bn a year of public money, they had to "make their fair share of the savings".