June 11, 2006
Malcolm Moss
MP: Government cuts could mean 55 police axed in
Central Division
Malcolm Moss, MP for North East
Cambridgeshire,
expressed
concern after a report by senior police officers
warned that a shortage of funding for the police
could lead to the loss of 25,000 full-time
officers. A cut of 25,000 police officers would
mean a reduction of 55 officers across
Central Division (Fenland and Huntingdon) and
251 fewer officers across Cambridgeshire as a
whole.
The report by the Association of
Chief Police Officers warns that Government
proposals to merge police forces and provide
protective services cannot be achieved “without
additional Government funding”. However, since
the Home Office budget has been frozen, police
forces across the country may be forced to cut
their workforces to balance the books. The
report highlights that “forces will need around
6% to 7% cashable savings per annum…through
staff reductions…equivalent to holding
(deleting) 25,000 police officer posts
nationally.”
Malcolm Moss commented:
“I very much value the work of
the police, from uniformed officers, support
staff, special constables and community support
officers where they exist. But I believe that
the public want to see more, not fewer,
uniformed police officers patrolling the
streets.
“The Government is driving
through the costly merger of Cambridgeshire with
Norfolk and Suffolk with insufficient debate or
scrutiny, and against the wishes of local
people.
“First it was hospitals being
forced to cut frontline staff, now I fear that
our police forces could be next.
“The fact is that the police levy
on council tax has soared by 178 per cent
across Cambridgeshire since 1997, but much of
this has been wasted on administration and
paperwork. Hard-working families and pensioners
deserve a better deal. Cutting the number of
police officers would be daylight robbery.”
Notes to Editors
POLICE
CHIEFS WARN OF LOOMING FUNDING CRISIS
A report by
the Association of Chief Police Officers’
finance committee warns that the one-off set up
costs of restructuring police forces will cost
£538 million. These costs ‘will be funded from
savings made from restructuring and from top
slicing the existing capital grant. There is no
new money available… Ultimately restructuring
and the level of protective services the
Government aspires to through the O’Connor
report cannot be achieved by the police service
without additional Government funding’. The
report goes on to warn that ‘forces will need
around 6% to 7% cashable savings per annum…
equivalent to holding (deleting) 25,000 police
officer posts nationally. The impact of such a
cut would destroy any realistic hope of
developing Neighbourhood Policing or mixed
economy teams under Workforce Modernisation’.
The report
concludes: ‘unless additional funding is
identified the early years of Force amalgamation
are likely to be a period not of service
improvement but a period of rapid and
significant reduction in service provision as
the new forces desperately try to balance their
books (ACPO Finance and Resource Business Area,
Updated Financial Implications of
Restructuring, Impact of Budget Settlement and
Future Home Office Financial Assumptions,
May 2006, pp 22-23).
GORDON
BROWN FREEZES THE HOME OFFICE BUDGET
In his Budget
Speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon
Brown, announced that the Home Office budget
will remain frozen for three years at its
2007-08 level. He said: ‘The
Home Secretary has agreed that we can invest
more in priorities like policing and security,
while making savings in other areas within a
three-year budget at its 2007–08 real-terms
level (Hansard, 22 March 2006, col. 300).
POLICE FORCE
CHANGES
Police force changes announced so
far by the Home Secretary
|
Government Region |
Home
Office proposals |
|
Eastern |
1.
Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
|
2.
Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
|
East
Midlands |
1. Merger
of Derbyshire, Leicestershire,
Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and
Nottinghamshire. |
|
North East |
Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria, |
|
North West |
1. Merger
of Cheshire and Merseyside |
|
2. Merger
of Cumbria and Lancashire (voluntary) |
|
3. Greater
Manchester as strategic force |
|
South East |
1. Merger
of Surrey and Sussex |
|
2.
Hampshire as strategic force |
|
3. Kent as
strategic force |
|
4. Thames
Valley as strategic force |
|
Wales |
Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and
South Wales. |
|
West
Midlands |
Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia
and West Midlands |
|
Yorkshire
and the Humber |
1. Merger
of Humberside, North Yorkshire, South
Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. |
|
|
Police force changes proposed by
the Home Secretary
|
Government Region |
Restructuring options being
considered |
|
South West |
1.
Regional South West force, or |
|
2. Two
strategic forces: Devon and Cornwall;
Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire,
Wiltshire and Dorset |
WHAT POLICE
CUTS COULD MEAN LOCALLY
|
Police
force |
Basic
Command Unit |
Police
officers
(full-time equivalent, as of March
2005) |
Effect
of 25,000 cuts |
|
England &
Wales |
|
141,000 |
-25,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Avon and
Somerset |
Bath and
North East Somerset |
221 |
-39 |
|
|
Bristol |
936 |
-166 |
|
|
Central
Services |
1,158 |
-205 |
|
|
North
Somerset |
234 |
-41 |
|
|
Somerset
East |
274 |
-49 |
|
|
Somerset
West |
304 |
-54 |
|
|
South
Gloucester |
271 |
-48 |
|
|
Total |
3,398 |
-602 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bedfordshire |
Bedford |
278 |
-49 |
|
|
Dunstable |
252 |
-45 |
|
|
Luton |
343 |
-61 |
|
|
Central
Services |
359 |
-64 |
|
|
Total |
1,232 |
-218 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cambridgeshire |
Central |
312 |
-55 |
|
|
Northern |
308 |
-55 |
|
|
Southern |
366 |
-65 |
|
|
Central
Services |
433 |
-77 |
|
|
Total |
1,418 |
-251 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cheshire |
Chester
and Ellesmere Port |
338 |
-60 |
|
|
Congleton
and Vale Royal |
302 |
-54 |
|
|
Crewe |
192 |
-34 |
|
|
Halton |
253 |
-45 |
|
|
Macclesfield |
250 |
-44 |
|
|
Warrington |
333 |
-59 |
|
|
Central
Services |
540 |
-96 |
|
|
Total |
2,207 |
-391 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cleveland |
Hartlepool |
190 |
-34 |
|
|
Langbaurgh
(Redcar and Cleveland) |
243 |
-43 |
|
|
Middlesbrough |
318 |
-56 |
|
|
Stockton |
280 |
-50 |
|
|
Central
Services |
659 |
-117 |
|
|
Total |
1,689 |
-299 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cumbria |
Barrow and
Kendal |
378 |
-67 |
|
|
Carlisle
and Penrith |
346 |
-61 |
|
|
Workington
and Whitehaven |
375 |
-67 |
|
|
Central
Services |
161 |
-29 |
|
|
Total |
1,260 |
-223 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Derbyshire |
Alfreton
(A Division) |
318 |
-56 |
|
|
Buxton (B
Division) |
266 |
-47 |
|
|
Chesterfield (C Division) |
348 |
-62 |
|
|
|
