West Mercia Police move to scrap alliance branded 'abuse of power'

John Campion, the Tory West Mercia police and crime commissioner, has decided to cut his force’s ties with Warwickshire Police, bringing an end to a four-year alliance that was once dubbed ‘a model that others could follow’.

But the joint decision with the force's chief constable Anthony Bangham has been met with shock by Warwickshire Police, who say the partnership saved £35 million.

Now former Warwickshire PCC Ron Ball has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid questioning the move by West Mercia Police.

In his letter, Mr Ball, who set up the alliance with his West Mercia counterpart, the late Bill Longmore, insisted it had been ‘outstandingly successful’.

He said ‘no credible reason’ had been given for the decision, which had shown ‘disrespect and discourtesy’ to Warwickshire Police.

“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,” he wrote.

He questioned why there had been no public consultation, and accused Mr Campion and Mr Bangham of treating the organisation as if it was their own ‘private company’.

Mr Ball also demanded to know the costs for the split – which he suggested West Mercia Police are legally obliged to pick up for breaking the alliance.

“In my judgement, this decision by the West Mercia PCC will be seen by many as an abuse of power,” he wrote.

Current Warwickshire PCC Philip Seccombe said the split was ‘a hugely disappointing development’ which he did not support.

Mr Campion, who was elected in 2016, said Mr Ball's comments were 'ill-informed, inappropriate and unhelpful'.

"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," he added.

“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."

Meanwhile, Shropshire’s fire authority is pressing ahead with a legal challenge to Mr Campion’s controversial takeover of the service.

Mr Campion was granted permission to take over the governance of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and Hereford & Worcester’s fire services earlier this year.