WE HAVE an election in Torbay next year. Not for a mayor or councillors, nor for an MP or MEPs, but the first election of a Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall.

This seemingly harmless idea was one of the Conservative contributions to the coalition programme for Government that we all, Conservative and Lib Dem alike, loyally voted for.

But that was before the recent public disorder.

Following the disturbances in London which spread across urban Britain, cuts to police budgets are worrying the public and police alike, so perhaps now is the time to reconsider this costly gimmick of elections and £60,000-a-year posts few people want.

The Daily Mail calculates the cost at £120million in the first year while the BBC adds it up at £135million over 10 years.

Either way that's a lot of Bobbies on the beat for people who will be no more contactable than the current chairman of a police authority.

Would knowing the name of the chairman of the police authority make them any more accountable?

That is, after all, the main argument in favour of an elected Police Commissioner, that the public would know their name.

Only in London do we have an idea of how Police Commissions will work. The elected Mayor of London is defacto the Police Commissioner, which is why the capital won't be having an election for a separate person.

The record of the Mayor of London rather exposes the claim that Police Commissioners would have ensured the police would have reacted more quickly to the first disorder in Tottenham. Clearly he and they didn't.

If I'd been the Prime Minister and had to cut my holiday short because London's elected Police Commissioner had failed to prevent events spiralling out of control, I'd have cancelled indefinitely the elections for positions that will only take resources out of policing.

THANKS to the views of a number of the new Conservative MPs elected last year, plans for a free vote on repealing the hunting ban have been kicked into indefinite touch, there being no chance of a majority in this Parliament in favour of bringing it back.

Several of the mostly urban new Conservative MPs say they will not back a vote on hunting before the next election because of the public's and their own opposition to the activity.

Having consistently voted over the years to criminalise the cruel act of one animal tearing another apart, I'm delighted.

I'm also pleased to have recently been made an honorary vice president of the League Against Cruel Sports where I hope to keep up the pressure against those who misuse animals in the name of sport.

I'M pleased to report another little campaign victory. The trials of a system for text messaging the emergency services have proved a great success and a permanent system is now available for people with hearing loss or difficulty with speech.

Since September 2009, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf has trialled an emergency SMS service.

It has successfully handled hundreds of real emergency calls.

Thanks to this service, criminals have been arrested, lives have been saved and babies have been born safely.

Anyone who cannot make voice calls can register their mobile phone for the service so they can contact the 999 emergency services by SMS text.

The Emergency SMS is part of the standard 999 service which has been designed specifically for people with hearing loss or difficulty with speech.

With the test a success, the campaign now is for a service for anyone who may need to contact the emergency services where to do so verbally could endanger them or others further.

I DO enjoy looking at how many places we are above Plymouth Argyle in the League Two table.

Shouldn't gloat I know but I'm sure from an Argyle fans' perspective, the fact their club is still in business and able to be in the table is enough to satisfy for the moment.

In the long run we all want our big neighbours down the road to survive.

NEXT surgeries: Thursday, September 1: 4pm to 5.30pm, Watcombe Community Centre, Medway Road, Torquay. Friday, September 9: 4pm to 5.30pm, Paignton Library, Great Western Road, Paignton. Advice line 200036. Web: www.adriansanders.org Email: sandersa@parliament.uk Also on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and the MyMP phone App.