Drawing the Parallels Between Past and Present Threats to Vital Local Public Services

My latest regular column for the Times and Citizen, published in this week's paper, considered the similarities between the threat posed to our local police force a couple of years ago at the time of the attempted merger with Herts Police and that which faces Bedford Hospital currently in the form of the plans to downgrade two of five hospitals in our area. In case you haven't seen it, I've pasted a copy of the article below:

"With this week seeing the first elections for Police and Crime Commissioners, it is worth reminding ourselves that here in Bedford Borough we could very easily have been going out to vote for a Commissioner for a merged Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Police Force.

The fact that instead we are not is in large part down to the campaign fought to save our local police force. As we continue the fight to stop the downgrading of Bedford Hospital, we should take note of the parallels between these situations facing vital local public services and the lessons we can learn.

Just over a couple of years ago, a merger of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Police looked a near-certainty. All of the senior figures involved appeared to have decided that it was to happen, and it was presented as an essential step in the name of 'efficiency.' This all overlooked a rather important point, however: Local residents did not want it. I spoke to as many local people as possible about what was proposed for their police force, and there was overwhelming concern about what it would mean in practice locally.

Everyone recognised the need for the police to make savings and for the forces to work together, but to have our local police force swallowed up as part of a merged force with the larger Hertfordshire force, and possibly later the Cambridgeshire force as well, was simply unacceptable. The policing priorities for our area would have struggled for attention up against those of large and distant towns, and the service would have been run more remotely from local communities.

The similarities in the case of the campaign to Save Bedford Hospital are overwhelming. As we know, what happened with the Police was that ultimately the plans fell, with the Government stepping in in the face of public opposition to the plans. We need to send a similarly forceful message to the NHS and to the Government this time around. They need to know that as a community we will not accept the downgrade of our local hospital and cuts to key services which will be no more 'efficient' for local residents here than a more distant, merged police force would have been."