Drugs Act Warrant was executed at a property in Ainsdale

MERSEYSIDE Police have informed us that they arrested a man after a Misuse of Drugs Act Warrant was executed, on 23 April 2015, at a property in Ainsdale. The Merseyside Police Press Office told us that:- "At about 7.55pm, after information was received from the community, our Neighbourhood Officers executed the warrant on Heather Close, Ainsdale. Once inside the property our Officers carried out a full search of the house and found a large quantity of what is suspected to be cannabis and a large amount of money. A short time later a 30 year old man, from Southport, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class B drug (cannabis), money laundering, possession of a lock knife and driving while unfit. He has been bailed pending further enquiries."

Sefton Neighbourhood Inspector Jim Atherton said:- "Officers carried out a search warrant at an address yesterday evening following information received from the local community. This has led to us finding a quantity of drugs and taking them off the streets. The information we are given by our communities is integral to us keeping Merseyside safe. If you think someone on your street is involved in the supply of controlled drugs then please ring us. This recovery just goes to show we do take information from the public very seriously and we will act on it. I would like to reassure the public that we will be relentless in our pursuit of offenders and of people who think they can profit from the misery of others."

Anyone with information about crime in their area is asked to call the:- 101 number or Crimestoppers, anonymously on:- 0800 555 111.

Is Political posturing failing Tenants in Liverpool?

THE RLA represents almost 20,000 private sector residential landlords in England and Wales and in a press release they stated this week that:- "the political parties nead to get their act together!" Tenants in Liverpool "are being let down by proposals from political parties designed to please their supporters, but which will do nothing to root out criminal landlords" the RLA has told us. According to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) proposals, such as from Labour and the Green Party, to introduce more regulation of the sector sound good and simple, but would do nothing to help tenants in Liverpool, which has 1 of the highest concentrations of private rented housing in the country. With over 100 laws containing over 400 regulations governing the private rented sector, shortage of regulations is not the problem. Rather it is the inability of hard pressed local authorities to properly enforce them. Rather than simplistic, bureaucratic measures such as a national register of landlords, the RLA is calling for a more intelligent approach. Their proposal is for a change to Council Tax forms which will provide local authorities with the information they need to target resources on the crooks. Current Council Tax forms do not ask households the tenure of their property and details, where rented, of the landlord. The RLA is calling for a change in the law to make this a mandatory requirement. Tenants are already legally bound to have their landlord's details when they sign a new tenancy and so will be able supply the information. Where a tenant is unable to provide this information it would then sound alarm bells and provide councils with the intelligence they need to investigate. Where necessary, the property owner could be found using the land registry database. Commenting on this, Alan Ward, Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association said:- "Tenants in Liverpool are being let down by a bidding war between some parties about who can clobber landlords the most. Such a tone is cheap politics that achieves nothing. Councils are unable to enforce the vast array of powers they already have to tackle criminal landlords so there is no point adding more. Instead, we need to get smarter and the RLA's proposal on council tax forms is a pragmatic, workable solution that will greatly help councils crack down on criminal landlords and so protect tenants with no extra costs involved."  The Communities and Local Government Select Committee report on the private rented sector can be found online as to can the details of the RLA's proposed reforms to Council Tax forms can be found at:- rla.org.uk/manifesto.  Please email us your views on this report to:- news24@southportreporter.com and let us know what you think about the issues raised within it.