Whether or not she is successful, I do think that a little more prudence with the funding she does have would not be a bad thing.
I refer particularly to the car scheme for chief superintendents and superintendents introduced soon after she took up her appointment.
This scheme provides for 21 high ranking officers to each be supplied with a Volvo 4x4 estate car, for use both on police work and privately. 

   
The initial cost of this scheme was around £500,000. Not a lot of money when one considers the whole budget of the force, but a considerable amount when you are talking of having to reduce services.

I corresponded with the chairman of the police authority, Keith Walters, who admitted that the scheme had been included with a lot of other budget items when it was submitted for approval and had not been specifically brought to the attention of the police authority.
Sadly, this matter is far from over and done with.

Under the terms of the scheme, the cars will be replaced every three or four years and even if they realise 50 per cent of their original purchase price, the force will still have to find another £250,000 to replace them.

Of even greater importance, in my view, are the terms under which these highly paid officers are provided with a car. They may use the cars privately and this includes travel abroad and use by spouses. 
The constabulary maintains them, replaces tyres, taxes them, insures them and puts fuel in them.
 
The officers themselves do contribute for their private mileage - the princely sum of 13p per mile!
This, I believe, is totally wrong and does not sit easy with the standards we expect of those in public service.

This should never have been approved in the first place. It is nothing more than a perk for these superintending ranks and this may be evidenced by the fact that, in the year prior to the introduction of the scheme, those officers averaged just 1,500 miles per annum each on business use in their own cars. 

Contrast that with the around 8,000 miles they now claim each for business use plus around 9,000 miles of private mileage.
I wondered what your readers thought? Is this scheme, whereby taxpayers contribute towards the private activities of individuals, now acceptable?
Lionel Thatcher
Tilbrook
 

Democracy row
>> Cllr Thorpe's letter (Your View, April 10) shows complete contempt for democracy.
I have attended policy and resources meetings, asked to speak, and been denied opportunity by the chairman, Cllr Thorpe.

I have raised issues at full council meetings but the mayor, Cllr Bob Eaton, chose to close the agenda item and not provide freedom to speak or question.

Cllr Thorpe states that this is similar to the district and county council. 
There is a clear democratic difference, all members at both councils have the opportunity to speak, scrutinise and challenge.

At St Neots Town Council, democracy is crushed. Why are they afraid of free speech?
Cllr David Harty
St Neots Town Council

Station is safer
>> I have noticed fewer trouble-makers at St Neots train station (Town Crier, April 10) in recent months, and believe the police and station owners deserve some praise.
You still get the odd yob but they've clearly made efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Well done.
M Harrison
St Neots

Fly the flag!
>> The defining characteristic of Englishness is an obsession with fair play and tolerance and the refusal of intolerance in others. For hundreds of years our country has attracted peoples from across the globe because of that characteristic and continues to today. The English and other British peoples have, and continue to, risk their lives to defend us against those who seek to impose their views on others.

It is tolerance which makes Englishness adaptable to change. We may not have suffered military invasion since 1066 but we have absorbed influences from across the globe.
A simple illustration is England's cosmopolitan choice of food from Chinese, Indian and Italian to even fish and chips, which originated in Portugal.

People from those countries may say our versions of their foods are different, but that misses the point. Eating a curry, England's' favourite dish, is an example of how the English adapt.
St George was a Christian and English culture and law is based on Christian values. The English must not, at the drop of a hat, cast out a culture developed peacefully over centuries to accommodate uncompromising "liberal" demands.

So, let me ask why does St Neots Town Council only fly the English flag one day each year?
Let's use those expensive flag poles at the Priory throughout next year to show St Neots is proud to be English.

Next week we should all celebrate St George, England and St Neots.
Barry Chapman
Secretary, Royal Society of St George, St Neots Area Branch

Petrol prices
>> I am becoming increasingly alarmed at the rising cost of petrol.
I have heard all the enivronmental arguments but until there is a serious replacement for petrol something needs to be done urgently to stop the rise crippling the economy further.

Yes oil prices may be rising across the globe, but here in England most of the problem lies with the ridiculously high tax on fuel.
Labour seriously need to look at how ordinary people are feeling the pinch.

Everything has gone up drastically in price over the past few years – electricity, water bills, council tax, food – except our wages.
T Jacobs
St Neots


Community centre>>
The story on the new Eatons Community Centre is welcome (Town Crier, April 10), but I fear that Cllr Giles is once again playing to the audience. 
In the report he supports the biomass fuel system and the impression is given that he is successfully delivering the project.

I serve on the working party together with (Conservative) Cllr Ursell, and we have provided considerable advice and guidance through all stages of the project, and have not sought publicity.
 
We do not seek or expect thanks from Cllr Giles, but he and his colleague Cllr Thorpe have short memories, but I raised the potential use of environmentally friendly biomas fuel. 
 
Cllr Giles states that the extra £15,000 can be found, but fails to recognise that we do not yet have the capital to cover the entire project and the town clerk continues to seek additional funding.  
If Cllr Giles and his colleague adopted a more open, inclusive and transparent approach, St Neots Town Council and the residents of St Neots would benefit. 

Many issues are not political, and the skills and experience of all councillors should be embraced and aid to the benefit all residents.
 We are moving forward into a new era of partnership working and unless the ruling group acknowledge this change, the future success of St Neots will remain a pipedream.

I fully support the Eatons Community Centre and stated several years ago that I would wish to see a similar centre in all four main areas of St Neots.
Cllr David Harty
St Neots Town Council

Cemetery land
>> There have been reports recently that St Neots Town Council is looking for land for a new cemetery (Town Crier, April 10).
It has always been my understanding that the field next to the existing cemetery was reserved for use as an extension to the existing site and no mention of this has been made in these reports. What is this field going to be used for, housing?
John Hall
St Neots

All parties should have a voice
>> As the day for the local council elections draws closer (May 1) I am disappointed that the three major parties have refrained from using the local press to outline their policies and further their chances of election.

However, there has been an absolute abundance of would-be councillors using the local press declaring that they are independents and against politics on the council.

They have reported a few weeks ago that they had over ten prospective independent candidates seeking election in St Ives and they hope for even more.
This is a contradiction itself because a council with a majority of elected independents forming a council are no longer independent. It would also be difficult to maintain a non-political stance when practically all of the council business is political.

Over the last few months there have appeared a number of articles outlining the independent objectives and objections in St Ives, with the campaign spearheaded by Mr Brian Luter. Several meetings have been advertised for electors to meet the independent candidates.
There has been almost no other mention from anyone else who intends to seek election and quite frankly the monopoly of the press by the independents is a little disturbing.

It is true that the independents have waged a plentiful campaign assisted by the newspapers but we have yet to see any mention of policies apart from hating politics.
Surely in local elections we should be more up front, open and truthful with councillors able to discuss and decide all kinds of business.
Royston Davey
Wood End
Bluntisham

>> Editor's note: The St Ives independents have been more pro-active in providing us press releases about the election.

While we have received press releases from the main political parties, to date we have not received any regarding their policies for the up coming election. We were unable to attend one party's election launch as we received the invitation just five minutes before the event.
We are planning to produce another election story before the polls open and invite any parties to contact us and outline their policies.

Council tax help
>> Over the last couple of weeks, council tax bills have been landing on doormats. With the majority of homes experiencing rises in their annual bill, they bring with them yet more financial worries for many families.

For the six million carers in the UK, such rises can have a huge knock-on effect adding to the financial burden of people whose lives are often already touched by poverty.
However, most carers are unaware that they may be eligible for a council tax discount of up to 50 per cent.
As such, I am urging carers to seek independent advice about whether they are paying the right amount.

For more information, carers should visit www.carersuk.org or call the CarersLine on 0808 808 7777.
Imelda Redmond
Chief Executive, Carers UK

Parish council is doing well
>> The up coming parish council election for Little Paxton on May 1 is in danger of being railroaded by candidates who, by their own declaration, may not bring their individual and non-political contributions to the council, but appear to have already formed an allegiance to one another.

We presently have an active parish council, that is run for the good of the whole community.
It has, through recent efforts, retained vital services, overseen improvements in facilities for the young and has been instrumental in winning "village of the year" awards.

The village is a better place to live in, thanks in no small part to their efforts.
As with most things in life, one or two proposals prove controversial, particularly to those in closest proximity.
The only way to achieve any progress is to take a democratic, balanced approach, something that the present council has been at pains to do.
Some of the new candidates for parish council appear to have been dissatisfied with some of the council's decisions of late and have been quite vociferous at public consultations and forums.

Whilst discussion and debate are always good things, it should be noted that, according to the Parish Plan, in these instances, the opinions expressed looked to have been at odds with the majority of our community.
If elected to office, would these candidates find it difficult to sufficiently separate the interests of our community as a whole, from their own?
The choice seems simple, a parish council that we know can deliver, or one that promises us "democratic change"?

A confusing offer seeing as we already have the former and do not appear in need of the latter.
Opinions on this will, naturally, differ from mine, and consequently the impending changes may not be of concern to some.
Whatever your views, Little Paxton, use your vote.

Democracy is only effective if the majority of people engage in the process, the alternative is rule by a minority, under a banner of democracy, but is in fact something quite different.
Ian Rhodes-Elson
Little Paxton