15 March 2002
In the same week that police marched on Parliament to oppose planned reforms to their service, the APA's executive director, Melanie Leech, said that there were concerns over the extension of Blunkett's national agenda into areas with localised problems.
The police are already in dispute with Blunkett over overtime proposals. Off-duty police officers demonstrated outside Parliament on March 13 over this issue, which the Police Federation said would leave staff worse off at a time when their responsibilities were expanding.
Blunkett this week announced that five policing priority areas (PPAs) will receive specialist support to help cut crime - Stoke, Southwark in London, Bradford, Bristol and Rhyl in Wales.
The APA generally welcomed the initiative, fundamental to which is the home secretary's focus on building community confidence through improved national and local partnerships. But Leech believes that Blunkett's recent preoccupation with national standards could clash with local priorities.
'The jury is still out [on PPAs]. There is the potential for a clash,' she told Public Finance. 'It remains to be seen how this will work, but with a proper aligning of the aims of the schemes, there is no reason why they can't achieve their goals.'
Leech said that one area of concern is the government's proposed use of the newly formed Police Standards Unit to monitor local performance. Police chiefs have previously expressed concern over Blunkett's proposal to use the PSU to intervene in supposedly 'failing' forces. 'Continuity is important and what happens after the PSU is involved needs addressing,' she added.
The police forces involved in the PPA initiative, meanwhile, gave Blunkett's announcement a warm reception. Avon and Somerset chief constable, Steve Pilkington, said: 'The designation of Stapleton Road [in Bristol] as a PPA will enable us to build on existing partnerships in the area.' But he called for more resources to implement the strategy.
PFmar2002
