Colwyn Bay Police Station

Jan 26 2012 by Richard Evans, North Wales Weekly News

THE £55,000 needed every year to pay for Colwyn Bay station to remain in the town centre should not come from the force’s £6.8m reserves, says the Police Authority.

North Wales Police’s accounts for 2010/11 show it had a £138m budget, with £6.8m in the bank, which is for emergencies only, says Police Authority treasurer Nigel Thomas.

Police reserves of £6,816,000 include £4.7m already generated from cost-cutting.

Earlier this week North Wales Police treasurer Nigel Thomas said using reserves would not be wise.

“If you have money in the bank, do you repair the roof or turn the heating up? We’re going to repair the roof,” he said.

“£55,000 is not a vast sum in the scheme of things, but it is part of a programme where we are looking at saving about £1m a year. If we don’t close Colwyn Bay, the next place will say ‘don’t shut us down either’.”

Mr Thomas’ comments follow Clwyd West AM Darren Millar questioning North Wales Police Authority chairman Tal Michael at a town council meeting earlier this month.

Mr Millar said: “North Wales Police has among the largest reserve of any public authority in Wales.

“At the end of the day that is what these reserves are for, when things are tight. I think £55,000 is peanuts, and could be saved from the force’s paper clip budget if it made the effort.”

In response, Nigel Thomas said: “The problem with politicians is they want less money spent, but not on their patch.

“It is a reaction to any change. We are trying to keep as many coppers on the street with the budget as possible, and the way to do that is spend less on facilities.”