SIR – Paul Windle would have us believe that the police have been telling us that crime is going down so they can ask for a large rates increase (T&A, February 12).
Yet, despite the hike in West Yorkshire’s police gross expenditure, bands A and B (which make up 64 per cent of all households within the county) will only have to pay an extra 4p a week (£2.08 a year) and 5p a week (£2.60 a year) respectively on the police element of their council tax for 2010/11.
And he should bear in mind that the Police Authority is made up of local councillors, magistrates and independent members, and it is they who set the budget for the police and decide the strategic direction of policing.
As for Mr Windle saying that the Fire Brigade is the only reliable emergency service in this country, I fear he must have had an aberration.
What about hospital A&Es, ground and air ambulances, RNLI, mountain rescue teams, paramedics, etc?
D Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford
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