CHESHIRE Police Authority has rejected proposals to merge the force with neighbouring Manchester or Merseyside.
The Association of Police Authorities this week reiterated its demands for assurances from the Home Secretary on key issues such as funding, local accountability and timescales, before it could advise police authorities to consider voluntary mergers.
The Government wants to reduce the UK's 43 police forces to 30 and asked for responses from authorities by Friday with the new structures to be in place for April 2007.
But Bob Jones, APA chairman, said: 'No police authorities have submitted full business cases to the Home Office. Police authorities have unanimously rejected the Home Secretary's plans to force these proposals through with indecent haste
and we believe there are also credible alternative options which should be considered very seriously.'
Meanwhile, political leaders have condemned the proposals. Cheshire County Council passed an '11th-hour' objection to a possible amalgamation after councillors agreed to 'record dismay and concerns' about the tight deadlines which have not, they claim, afforded a full public consultation exercise.
They said that discussions on the merger plan have been 'inadequate and unnecessarily rushed' and that a further round of consultation is necessary.
Questions that have not been answered, they believe, include the impact on Council Tax, local police cover and the accountability of any new force.
Cllr Eveleigh Moore Dutton said: 'The issue is above local politics. My fear is that local policing issues may be overshadowed by the problems of the conurbations.
'Cheshire's towns and villages are not immune to crime and disorder but they may not get the attention they deserve if they have to compete with the demands of big city crime.
Tory MP Stephen O'Brien also accused the Government of failing to consult people properly and questioned Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons earlier this month, before speaking out at a meeting at Cheshire police's Winsford HQ.
The MP for Eddisbury questioned how accountable a regional police force would be to people in Mid Cheshire. He added: 'The Government is not consulting fully on their proposals to regionalise local police forces. We are not being allowed to argue for the status quo, nor look at combinations that might cross borders into Wales or the West Midlands, where our policing has most in common.
'This costly restructuring of Cheshire police will not improve frontline policing Mid Cheshire and there has been no indication from the Government how these proposals will be funded. The Govern-ment's proposals are dangerous and not in the interests of the people.'
The Government says larger forces will be better able to combat major crime and terrorism. But opposition is mounting with the Local Government Association saying it could make the police less answerable to local people and less responsive to local needs.
