Sunday Mercury: Police spend £1m on PR

BY BEN GOLDBY

EXCLUSIVE (THAT'S ENOUGH TO HIRE 50 BOBBIES)

A MIDLAND police force spent an astonishing £1million on private consultants last year - enough to hire an extra 50 bobbies.

The huge sum was paid out by West Midlands Police to management experts, financial strategists, market researchers and public relations advisors.

Yet the cash could have paid for 50 new beat bobbies or 25 highly-skilled inspectors.

Last night, the Government was accused of pushing the police into extra spending on PR by Birmingham Shadow Minister, Andrew Mitchell.

"I sense the hand of central government interference behind much of this," the Sutton Coldfield MP said.

"There are far too many central targets and directives issued by this Labour government, which has so comprehensively let down us and the police service itself.

"The police need to target their local policing on the needs of the local community and not as a result of directives from Whitehall."

A Freedom of Information request revealed West Midlands Police spent £1,047,454, between April 2006 and March 2007, on outside consultants.

Much of the cash went on market research, financial strategy and public relations.

West Midlands Police Authority also shelled out £21,706 to a company specialising in telephone surveys and focus groups.

A further £10,117 went to a firm conducting street surveys.

And despite the fact that the force employs its own team of money experts, the Police Authority spent £1,500 for advice from financial strategists.

The revelations over the huge payouts to private companies come just six weeks after West Midlands officers protested outside Westminster over pay and conditions.

Fiona McEvoy, spokeswoman for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said the spending represented a waste of valuable public money.

"Ordinary hard-working people pay taxes in good faith for frontline police services and safer communities," she said.

"Now they are having to line the pockets of expensive consultants who can charge thousands of pounds for just a few days of relatively unnecessary and fruitless work.

"West Midlands Police should spend less of our money on boardroom consultations and more of it on actual policing, so that people in this area can feel safe".

Official figures recently showed that violent crime on Birmingham streets has risen by six per cent since the introduction of late night boozing.

And gun crimes recorded by West Midlands Police now account for one in 10 firearm offences in England and Wales in 2006-07 - the third highest rate in the country.

But last night a spokeswoman for the force defended the cash payouts to private companies.

She said: "Consultancy fees paid for by West Midlands Police between April 2006 and March 2007 includes work around specialist areas which cannot be provided within the force, including building surveys, police authority payments and more importantly, specialist medical consultants."