GWENT AM William Graham has launched a broadside against Assembly finance minister Edwina Hart amid allegations of police "capping" plans.

Last week the Argus exclusively revealed how Gwent's chief constable and chairman of the Wales region of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Keith Turner, had written a letter to Ms Hart over her plans to set notional budgets for Welsh police forces.

In the hard-hitting letter obtained by us, he wrote: "I do not feel that the process of setting notional budgets is either required or justified.

"Any subsequent move towards capping may well give rise to accusations that your administration may be commencing a process which would lead to under-investment in the police service similar to that which previous governments have been accused of in relation to the health service and education and which would be bequeathing to future generations a similar debacle."

Now Mr Graham, the Conservative Assembly Member for South Wales East, says he will demand that Ms Hart withdraw her plans.

Mr Graham said: "The message from Edwina appears to be very clear.

"Our police authorities are being directed to setting their precept to meet political targets, not effective policing objectives.

"I am awaiting her reply to Mr Turner's question which is at the heart of his letter: 'Will the assembly be prepared to take responsibility when service delivery fails because of poor funding?'

"It is remarkable that the assembly minister for finance is fully aware that her current demand for police authorities to conform to a politically set budget is based upon statistics that her officials have already acknowledged as being inaccurate.

"In recent years our police authorities have demonstrated that they are consistently placed among the top forces in the UK with regard to crime reduction and detection, despite their lower level of funding when compared to other similar-sized forces.

"They are remarkable and their achievements deserve to be fully recognised, not threatened with being penalised by their National Assembly.

"Our police offer true value for money, for although their efforts to reduce crime and keep us safe may increase our council tax bills, they allow for greater savings in the cost of our home and car insurance. It was recently determined that a person living in Gwent saved, when compared with someone living in nearby English police force areas, far more than the entire police precept.

"It is time that the Labour Administration at the National Assembly 'wised up' to their lack of governmental experience and reliance upon 'back room committees' to determine policies. In the real world political dogma has to take the back seat when problems have to be tackled in reality and not in theory."