Legal battle warning over police alliance

Ron Ball, who was Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Warwickshire from 2012 to 2016, made the comments in a letter to the Home Secretary, expressing concern over the decision to end the alliance between West Mercia and Warwickshire police forces.

The shock decision to end the alliance, which was set up in 2012, was taken by West Mercia PCC John Campion and the force's chief constable Anthony Bangham last week.

The decision will come into effect in October next year.

Mr Ball has said the announcement had shown "disrespect" and "discourtesy" to Warwickshire and would have left many in West Mercia "thoroughly embarrassed".

He also questioned why the potential costs of ending the alliance had not been made public.

Decision

Mr Campion has described the comments as "ill-informed, inappropriate and unhelpful".

He has also said that the costs of ending the alliance are currently "not clear".

Mr Ball said Mr Campion had not explained why he had taken the decision.

He said: "Without dwelling on the disrespect and discourtesy shown to Warwickshire on how the decision was announced, there has been no credible reason given for this very significant decision.

"De-coupling two multi-million pound organisations employing thousands of officers and staff is going to be a hugely expensive and time consuming exercise at a time when police chiefs are complaining about resources being stretched to breaking point.

"This decision has been taken with no consultation with the police federations, the staff associations or the public they are meant to serve.

"Both the PCC and the chief constable are treating the organisation as though it is a private company of which they have 100 per cent ownership."

Assumption

Mr Campion has stressed he is keen to retain a relationship with Warwickshire but wants to remove what he says are the "limitations of the alliance "that are affecting the delivery of efficient and effective policing in West Mercia".

Mr Ball called on Mr Campion to explain the potential costs of the decision to the public, and warned that a legal battle could be forthcoming.

He said: "The authors of the alliance agreement very wisely included a clause which stipulated that should either force wish to unilaterally withdraw from it they would be responsible for picking up the costs to the other force.

"If this is a well thought through decision (and I have seen no evidence to date that it is) what assumptions have West Mercia made about those costs?

"It is inconceivable that a competent management team would make a decision like this without having a clear idea as to what those costs would be so why are the public not being given them?

"If the West Mercia team are working on the assumption that the Warwickshire team will succumb to bullying and roll over they have hugely misjudged their alliance partners. It is highly likely that this will end up as a protracted legal battle."

In response Mr Campion said Mr Ball had failed to understand how the decision had been taken.

He said: "He does not seem to grasp the fundamental points that this is a joint decision with West Mercia’s chief constable, nor that our preference is to reform West Mercia’s relationship with Warwickshire, rather than end that relationship altogether.

“I believe the very nature of the alliance has always limited its effectiveness and efficiency, and this is evidenced by some of the decisions Mr Ball took in his term of office.

“However, it is also clear that the alliance has delivered some benefits. My preference is to continue working closely with our partners in Warwickshire to retain those benefits, whilst reforming the way governance works to improve services to the public and give more clarity to our police forces."