BOSSES at Suffolk police have thrown their weight behind a single unitary authority for the whole of the county, it emerged today.
BOSSES at Suffolk police have thrown their weight behind a single unitary authority for the whole of the county, it emerged today.
Suffolk Police Authority have written to boundary chiefs giving their view on the review of local government in the county, revealing they feel a unitary single tier system will be better for them than the status quo.
Their preferred option emerged as a single Suffolk including Lowestoft.
In a letter to boundary chiefs, the chair of Suffolk Police Authority, Gulshan Kayembe, wrote that the body felt that “in order to deliver an effective and efficient policing service to Suffolk, Lowestoft must remain in the county and within whichever unitary option is agreed upon for Suffolk”.
He added that the authority “considered that the preferred unitary option, to facilitate the better delivery of policing, would be the single unitary option covering the whole of Suffolk but which must include Lowestoft.”
Earlier this month The Evening Star revealed how chief constable Simon Ash feared his force would become too small and unable to deal with major investigations if moves to link Lowestoft with Norfolk local are rubber stamped.
A public consultation on different possibilities for the future of Suffolk is due to end tomorrow.
The preferred option of boundary chiefs proposes two unitary councils - North Haven, incorporating Ipswich and Felixstowe, and Rural Suffolk, made up of the remainder of the county, minus Lowestoft.
A second option is also on the table - a single unitary Suffolk council, again without Lowestoft.
Suffolk police authority is just one of dozens of stakeholders making representations to the Boundary Committee on the future governance of the county.
Boundary chiefs are due to announce their recommendations by the end of December with a final decision being taken by central government next year.
Will a shake-up of local government affect policing in the county? What do you think? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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