I have been sent the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed five-year Police and Crime Plan for Nottinghamshire

The Plan, and the resources required to deliver it, is closely linked to the budget for 2013-14 and the amount of council tax paid towards policing by local people. Proposals for the precept and budget will be approved on 6 February.

The Plan suggests that  the Police will improve Community Policing across Nottinghamshire by taking on 150 extra Police Officers and 100 Police Community Support Officers.However, as I have pointed out before, this was last year’s and the year before last year’s Plan too and we still have not got a second PCSO for Southwell.

They also plan to reduce antisocial behaviour by 50%, and give extra priority and resources to domestic violence and crimes against girls and women. I am encouraged to see that incidents of anti-social behaviour in our town and villages has decreased due to the efforts of the Safer Neighbourhood Team. I hope that this can be maintained and strengthened.

I am encouraged to see that the Police will ‘ensure that the victims of crime are treated as people, not cases, and will properly fund victim support’ and that the Commissioner intends to ‘be fair, honest and protect tax-payers’ money’.

However, in Southwell we pay a significant amount of money to the Police Budget; we do expect to see a good service locally. If the Police want to close the Southwell Police Station again, I will oppose this strongly. I wonder what the Conservatives will say about this, when one of their own Councillors led the plan to close Southwell Police Station last time?