East Lancashire MP slams police private healthcare
9:00pm Sunday 4th March 2012 in News
EAST Lancashire MP Jake Berry has slammed the police for paying out more than £12,500 on private healthcare for top cops.
Mr Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, said a freedom of information request to Lancashire Constabulary had revealed that seven of the force’s top and senior ranking officers were receiving private medical cover.
According to the response, the chief constable, Steve Finnigan, the deputy chief constable, three assistant chief constables, the director of resources and the chief executive of the Lancashire Police Authority have policies.
These equate to £12,644.88, which includes a medical assessment.
Mr Berry said he was outraged that the tax payer was funding the private policies especially in light of the £42million cuts the force has to undertake.
He said: "The tax payer should not be paying for private healthcare for any top officers in Lancashire.
“If the NHS is good enough for a bobby injured in the line of duty it should be good enough for the chief constable.
“The chief constable has announced that the police precept will push up council tax up when it has been frozen across councils across Lancashire. Why should we pay more for these types of gold plated executive packages?
"We have heard the police authority and the chief constable, Steve Finnigan, saying they have had to make officers redundant because of cuts.
“To get rid of front line officers while handing out executive perks to yourselves is crass beyond belief and shows a vacuum of leadership at the top of Lancashire Constabulary."
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