ST HELENS’ custody suite would still have closed regardless of its failing IT system, a senior police officer has said.

The custody suite, which is based at St Helens Police Station, has been closed since August 2017 as part of an ongoing review into the force’s facilities.

Merseyside Police has four custody suites based in St Helens, Wirral, St Anne’s in Liverpool and Copy Lane in Bootle.

One of the key reasons given for the closure has been due to the need to spend in the region of £170,000 to replace its IT system.

Superintendent Jennifer Wilson told St Helens Council’s safer communities overview and scrutiny panel that the suite’s cell-call system, which allows prisoners to talk to custody staff, failed in August.

She said: “We arranged for an engineering company to come out to have a look at the cell call system and we were quoted hundreds of thousands of pounds to make the repairs.

“At the same time the force was asking how many custody suites do we actually need and how many cells we need in order to make sure we’ve got enough cells to deal with people we arrest.

“It did seem a little bit foolish to replace the cell call system and spend all that money whilst that project was ongoing.”

Cllr Andy Bowden, ward member for Parr, questioned how much weight the failing IT system had on the overall decision.

He said: “If the IT issues weren’t there, which custody suite would have closed?”

In response, Supt Wilson said the St Helens custody suite would have still been closed.

Supt Wilson said that during the pilot, on average, there was only 43 out of 110 cells across the region occupied at any one time.

She said: “What that meant was we were paying an awful lot of money for detention officers, custody sergeants and custody inspectors.

“In essence, there were no suspects in the cells and it was just a big waste of money.”

During the pilot the force began a consultation with stakeholders regarding the closure of one of the four custody suites –  although no formal consultation took place with the public.

Supt Wilson said during this period, HMRC highlighted the need for renovation work across the four sites to bring them all up to Home Office standards.

She said the force decided to press ahead with plans to close one of the custody suites, narrowing it down to St Helens and Copy Lane.

The final decision to close the College Street facility was taken by Jane Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside.

Cllr Bowden said the decision to close the facility was driven by central government funding cuts and resource issues.

“The police want to deliver a good service,” he said.

“They want to do more than they are doing but they can’t because of budget pressures they are facing, because of decisions that are being made elsewhere, away from St Helens, down in Westminster.

“They want to do more than they can do but they can’t, things are restricting it.

“This decision has been driven by the funding available and the priorities the police has to make at a local level within those funding cuts.”

The Labour councillor also accused Merseyside Police of “underemphasising” the impact of cuts.

He said: “There is an impact, and it is a negative impact on the policing in this borough.

“I wish some would take a leaf out of the fire service’s book and actually say it like it is sometimes.”

Supt Wilson said the closure has not impacted on the force’s arrest rates.

She said staff have, on average, had to travel two minutes further on the journey to the custody suite, with the majority of offenders being taken to the Copy Lane facility.

The panel was also told that young people are being taken to the custody suite closest to where they live and that arrangements can be made to make sure “vulnerable” people find their way home.

Rainhill councillor Stephen Glover said the decision will not be accepted within St Helens.

He said: “You’re here to give us the rationale for closing St Helens custody suite and you’re throwing certain statistics at us.

“And quite clearly there are budget implications and that’s why it’s happening.

“But I am here to say from the people of St Helens – they will not accept that the closure is acceptable within St Helens.”