Police and Justice Bill

I welcome the new Minister of State to his post, and congratulate him on successfully seeking political asylum from the Department of Health. I also welcome the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr. Coaker). I look forward to debating these issues with both of them. Most of the Government amendments are technical, and we are happy to accept them. The Minister, however, raised one issue in relation to the new power to appoint a deputy chief constable, which has been introduced at a very late stage. I do not object to the principle that new strategic forces should be allowed to appoint additional deputy chief constables, but it gives rise to a serious question about the whole rationale for mergers—which, after all, was intended to secure savings that could be reinvested in protective services. The essence of the savings that were to be achieved was to result from the reductions in the number of senior command posts. Page 18 of a Home Office document supporting the proposal to create a west midlands regional force—the Minister will know about that from his constituency—refers to cost savings that are quantified, and suggests that the principal cost saving would derive from a reduction in the number of senior command staff. Now we are presented with an amendment that would allow such a strategic force to take on additional command staff, thereby eating into one of the main areas of saving that have been identified as a rationale for merger.