COUNCILLOR Dowden makes a claim that my funding of two ACSOs in Totton is political. The silence of his two Liberal Democrat colleagues who represent Totton, whereas he does not, is absolute.

As the originator of the Accredited Community Safety Officers in Hampshire, I took £1 million to fund 46 ACSOs from the increase in our income after Government allowed local authorities to reduce the council tax discount for second home owners from 50 per cent to 10 per cent.

Half of the £1 million, ie £500,000 comes from the New Forest alone.

When Councillor Dowden sees two ACSOs on patrol anywhere in Hampshire including in his own Division, one of the two will have been funded by the people of the New Forest! (ie 23 of the 46 ACSOs in Hampshire are funded by the New Forest).

The Liberal Democrat-controlled Totton Town Council some years ago asked for its own two dedicated ACSOs and the Conservative-controlled New Forest District Council agreed to fund them, as they did for New Milton and for the Liberal Democrat-controlled Hythe and Dibden Parish Council.

These six were in addition to the 46 ACSOs the county council funds.

As the New Forest District Council this year were forced to withdraw funding for New Milton and Totton and since this reduced dedicated ACSOs by 66 per cent in those three areas imagine how pleased I was when I was voting to abolish the unelected South East England Regional Assembly to find that this would save £50,000 per annum which would fund two more county-funded ACSOs.

What I have done is to save two locally-funded ACSOs and marginally reduce the funding imbalance that sees the New Forest area funding half of our ACSO force!

I was so pleased to have been able to do this. The people of Totton are pleased, and so are their Liberal Democrat County Councillors, Messrs Weeks and Harrison although they will not say so!

So Councillor Dowden, 23 of our ACSOs funded by the New Forest serve in every area in Hampshire. Do you begrudge my saving two ACSOs out of four in these local areas, from additional funding that accrued to the county council so that the balance of ACSO funding is now 45 per cent New Forest funded and 55 per cent the rest of the county?

Cllr Ken Thornber, Leader, Hampshire county Council, Winchester.