Despite this first class excellence, there is a serious ongoing downside applicable to the Derbyshire force and the other 43 constabularies nationwide.

Prime Minister Brown's Labour Government is till stubbornly withholding a substantial percentage of the current year's police pay award, negotiated by the National Police Federation, styled police back pay. This is an incredible situation which cannot be allowed to continue.

With the United Kingdom's hard-won trade union recognition, it is incredible that in 2008 the police personnel who guard our population from a miscellany of domestic crime, and our shores from the potential influx of international terrorism, then for a Labour government to penalise all UK police personnel by withholding a substantial percentage of a negotiated pay increase beggars belief.

Thankfully on April 15 2008 the National Police Federation tabled an in-depth judicial review of police back-dated pay. Judgement is awaited.

Derbyshire Police Authority await the outcome of the judicial review, at which all police authority committee members will again receive the option of supporting or otherwise the re-submission of a public question under the authority's standing orders, namely calling for an agenda item at the full committee on back-dated pay, allowing wide debate on this.

This procedure will re-inforce correspondence in December 2007 and January 2008. Published minutes of the Authority include a paragraph, and I quote "a member suggested the authority might consider making a written submission to the judicial review to re-inforce the points already raised." Chairman Mrs Birkin indicated that she would raise the matter further at the forthcoming meeting of the Police Negotiating Board.

Will readers note the above unattributed paragraph does not refer to myself. This is how the matter stands as at May 10. I believe a high percentage of us will support the police.

I call on the committee again to debate in open session the possibility of releasing the officers' much-needed back-dated pay now in recognition of their wonderful results in fighting crime in the county.

To Prime Minister Brown I issue an invitation for him to listen to the debate within the National Police Federation Conference on May 19 to May 23 at which he will hear from the police personnel of the 43 UK forces who keep the peace and security of our nation, which will give him a similar message to the one initially given in the recent election results.

Mrs Jean Hallam

Bings Road

Whaley Bridge