Row over council decision to axe funding for second Lymm PCSO

A row has broken out over a decision by Lymm Parish Council to withdraw funding to cover the cost of a second PCSO in the village.

Members of the Lib-Dem controlled parish council voted not to continue to fund the circa £40,000 a year second PCSO dedicated to the village.

The decision was met with anger by Tory borough Cllr. Kath Buckley, who resigned from the parish council last year due to her frustrations with the Lib Dems said: “At a time when nationally the police are trying to increase local policing across the UK, the Liberal Democrat run Parish Council has decided to axe the second PSCO who has for many years been funded by the Parish Council. This is despite local residents and local traders placing policing as very high in their priorities.

“The implication of this for the community is quite stark. The remaining PCSO will be part of the Warrington pool so it is quite likely that they will be pulled to deal with situations elsewhere in Warrington.
“This will impact on for example: the weekly drop-in sessions that they hold at Lymm Youth and Community Centre where they help and give advice to the general public and their constant work defusing situations across Lymm. Let’s not forget that it was the PSCOs who by training the residents of Burford lane on speed guns that helped secure the lowering of the speed limit on that road to the benefit of all.”

The decision follows January’s Full Council meeting, when the Parish Council voted by a majority to increase the precept by 9.5%, with a unanimous decision for the Parish Council funded PCSO to be reduced to 50%. However, on informing Cheshire Constabulary of this decision, a 50% funded post was not deliverable. Attempts to share a PCSO with another Parish Council were unsuccessful so a decision for the Parish Council to fund a full PCSO was retabled at the February meeting. At this meeting, there was a majority decision to discontinue funding the Parish Council funded PCSO post for Lymm from 1st April. There will still be a PCSO post in Lymm funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Defending the decision, Chairman of the Parish Council Resources Committee, Cllr Ian Marks said: “Lymm Parish Council has funded an extra PCSO for many years. Councillors appreciate the work they do and their role in helping police officers. However, there is only one other Parish Council in the whole of Warrington that funds an extra PCSO. That is Great Sankey which is nearly twice the size of Lymm. All other Parishes appear to cope with just one PCSO funded by Cheshire Constabulary.
“If Kath Buckley had not resigned from the Parish Council a while ago, she would have been present when the decision was made not to continue this funding and could have argued her case. It is alarmist for her to say that the implication for the community is quite stark.
“The total cost of a PCSO is around £40,000 which is a large proportion of the discretionary money the Council has at its disposal. The recently completed work at the Village Hall, which we are very pleased with, had to be spent but has cost a lot of money. If we had funded the PCSO next year, we would have had to make significant cuts in grants to organisations that rely on the Council for support, cuts to events like Carols round the Cross, decorations at Christmas and funding for the Neighbourhood Plan.
“Sometimes councillors must make choices and take difficult decisions. While we very much appreciate the work our PCSOs do, the restrictions on their powers and the limited public attendance at surgeries make the value for money on expenditure of £40,000 a year for one additional PCSO questionable.”