LIBERAL Democrats at Warrington claim they have been cheated out of a place on the newly formed Cheshire Police and Crime Panel for a second time.
The Panel was set up to hold to account the elected Police and Crime Commissioner. 
The 10-member panel consisting of five Conservatives and five Labour has recently appointed the two other independent members it was obliged to do. They co-opted one other additional member but refused to co-opt a Liberal Democrat.
Cllr Ian Marks (pictured), leader of the Lib Dem group on Warrington Borough Council, said: “Last July we accused both Conservative and Labour of a ‘stitch-up’ by refusing to appoint a Liberal Democrat to the original 10-member Panel.
“We believe this was a blatant disregard of regulations, which require political proportionality across Cheshire as a whole. The arithmetic based on the number of elected councillors across the police authority clearly shows the Lib Dems were entitled to one of the 10 places.”
The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act allows the Panel to co-opt up to eight additional members. The guidelines refer to the co-option of elected members to correct “perceived inequalities” and the Act specifically states that “the balanced appointment objective must be secured as far as is practicable.”
Cllr Marks added: “The Panel should have sorted its membership out in December but I understand this was deferred to February because of disagreements amongst members.
“Their refusal to accept our Lib Dem nominee, Cllr Peter Walker, who has masses of experience on the now defunct Police Authority is an outrageous ‘kick in the teeth’ for the democratic process.
“We are now deciding on our best course of action to rectify this injustice and put right this ‘old pals act’ by Conservatives and Labour.”
Ends…
12 Comments
Well it certainly can’t be an ‘Old Pals’ act between the Conservative and Liberals anymore can it?
Can you really expect much concern for democratic niceties from an “elected” official who only had the support of 5% of the electorate.
Who will the CONservatives run with next…UKIP…or whoever looks a likely winner? Hounds and Hares spring to mind.
There won’t be a Liberal Democrat party after the next election…. so maybe the panel were thinking ahead!!!
Whatever your political beliefs, if the rules of appointment to the panel declare that there should be a balance across the parties, we should all be supporting the fairness of that rule. It is in all our interests to have a broad range of views represented on the Police and crime panel, not for it to be biased towards any particular party.
Miliband better hope there is – he’ll be looking to form a coalition with them. Geoff may well be right but fails to mention the “Old Pals ” acts his national leader will be trying to put on with Clegg (or whoever replaces him)
Does anyone know if they opted for innovative thinking rather than experience when they co-opted? There is a lot to be said for experience but there is also a lot to be said for a new person whe will challenge the way things have always been done and offer something new. I don’t know the answer just a thought.
When did fairness ever really feature in a politician’s (national or local) make up. For sure they bang on about it out during the hustings but when push comes to shove they are the most self absorbed people on the planet. Power always trumps impartiality in the poltical world, whatever the rules, sizes of the electorate or smallness of their majorities – even with a majority of one most politicians will claim to have a mandate.
The whole thing was badly organized from day 1. Do we really want a LibDem anywhere near law enforcement with their “go easy on the criminals”?
How about ensuring “political proportionality” by appointing members who represent the vast majority of the electorate who are fed up to the back teeth with lying, scheming professional party politicians, never find anyone with a realistic chance on their ballot papers who they would trust to run a bath, and as a consequence don’t vote.
Apart from reflecting the political situation in Cheshire, it is important to have people who represent a range of opinions – including those that you, or the tory commissioner, might disagree with.
Like a certain councillor for Culcheth tried to do, Geoff, before he was subject to a smear campaign and persecuted by the Labour junta?