The Chair of Cleveland Police Authority has warned today that proposals for changes in police pay ‘must not be allowed to divert attention from the fact that the service is facing unprecedented cuts in funding and staffing—at the same time as the Government is planning to spend many millions on forcing through a costly and unwanted administrative upheaval…including the creation of highly-paid Commissioners whilst people are seeing officer numbers fall.’
Councillor Dave McLuckie was speaking after the publication today of proposals for changes in police pay from the former rail regulator Tom Winsor and figures from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) showing that there will be an estimated 28,000 job losses in the police service in England and Wales over the next four years.
The Winsor report sets out a range of changes in police pay structures which it says will produce savings of £485million over three years—these include cutting police overtime by £60million a year and freezing pay increments for two years.
Said Councillor McLuckie “I do not believe that anyone connected with the police service would deny that there is a case for reviewing pay structures. But at the same time no-one should be under the illusion that the proposals announced today are unconnected with the Government’s plans to make massive cuts in its police funding—amounting to 20 per cent or more over four years. They are inextricably linked—and I believe that the vast majority of the public recognise that fact…and also recognise that cuts on the scale proposed will inevitably impact on the quality of service they receive.
“Cutting overtime costs sounds very appealing, but the reality is that, in common with every other force and authority, here in Cleveland we have taken steps to reduce overtime spending in order to meet the impact of the funding cuts…and less overtime does actually mean less resources to tackle crime, reduce anti-social behaviour and improve the quality of life for the communities we serve.
“The figures today from ACPO underline the scale of the job losses across the country. In Cleveland, whilst we will have to reduce our officer establishment by 155 in the coming year, we have been able to protect our front-line resources, largely through our partnership with Steria for delivering support services and further civilianisation of post previously undertaken by officers.
“But things will get much tougher as further cuts start to bite and yet, at the same time as it is being proposed to reduce police pay by hundreds of million, the Government is still planning to go ahead with spending huge amounts on creating a new administrative structure—including £50million for the election of Police and Crime Commissioners, paying them salaries of £122,000 a year and incurring increased costs for the separate support services required for the Commissioners and the proposed Police and Crime Panels.
“It makes no sense—and there is no evidence to suggest it has public support. Indeed a recent national opinion survey showed only 27 per cent of those questioned supported the idea of Commissioners, only 15 per cent believed they would help reduce crime—and yet 85 per cent wanted more officers on the beat.
“If Tom Winsor and the Home Secretary Theresa May really want to make savings and protect front-line services they should start by scrapping plans to spend millions and millions on these ill-considered plans which no-one outside Whitehall really wants and which will do absolutely nothing to make people safer in their homes and on their streets.”