It’s been revealed that Government spending cuts will force a significant reduction in police officer numbers in Cleveland over the next two years - but today the Chair of the Police Authority, Councillor Dave McLuckie, has again renewed the pledge to do everything possible to protect front-line services.
A report being considered by Authority members this week explains that the current force establishment of 1,727 officers will have to fall by around 230 as the Authority faces a real term reduction of £17million in the funding from Government in the coming two years, with cuts of 20 per cent or more by the end of four years - and one of the measures proposed involves implementing regulations requiring officers with over 30 year service to retire.
Police officers are entitled to their full pension after 30 years but traditionally some have stayed on rather than retire. A report to the Authority from Chief Constable Sean Price says implementing the regulations on compulsory retirement for those ranks up to Chief Superintendent who have completed 30 years service is necessary to help meet the financial situation now being faced.
Currently the Force has around 50 officers with service in excess of 30 years - and a similar number are expected achieve 30 years pensionable service in the year ahead.
Said Councillor McLuckie “When the Government announced the scale of cuts in funding I described it as about as bad as it gets and I regret to say that we are now having to deal with the reality of what having to reduce spending by such a huge amount really means.
“We have already significantly reduced from our formal officer establishment as a result of the recruitment freeze implemented last year and, of course, there is always an element of natural wastage. However, that alone will not meet the reduction we need to achieve which is why we are now having to consider implementing the rule on retirement for those with over 30 years service.
“It is not something we are happy about having to contemplate, but the alternative would be imposing drastic cuts which would seriously impact on our operations - threatening the modernisation programme which aims to reduce the number of officers involved in ‘back office’ roles and maximise the number available for front-line policing.
“I believe that, provided we can move forward, building on the initiatives we have already in place—particularly our partnership with Steria for support services—we will have the best possible chance to ensure that we can continue with the immense progress we have made in recent years in reducing crime and improving community safety.
“That can only be achieved by protecting front-line services and that remains our priority despite the unprecedented difficulties we face because of the funding cuts.”
Chief Constable of Cleveland Police Sean Price said: “This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult decisions we have to make moving forward, in order to meet the savings requirement under the Comprehensive Spending Review.
“When we embarked on our partnership with Steria, I looked forward to releasing officer engaged in back office functions onto the frontline to increase our presence in communities. I am extremely sad that it is now a strong possibility that I will have to take these officer posts as a saving but at least it will help to maintain current frontline levels.
“The focus during the coming months and years is on Putting People First and protecting our frontline services. We have the lowest crime levels on record and consistently high levels of public confidence and I am committed to maintaining this, despite the financial challenges we face.”