This morning’s Western Mail highlights the impact that the recession will have on front-line policing.
They report that the predicted cut in the Home Office grant of up to 20% annually from 2011, as part of a programme of public sector savings, will leave chief officers facing difficult decisions. All four police authorities are set are set to raise the local council tax precept by around 5%, which means council taxpayers will pay around £7 or £8 extra for policing next year. The increase will keep the forces on a more-or-less even keel this year. But they are likely to encounter serious difficulties next year.
Despite this some forces still face problems in the next financial year. South Wales Police for example are looking at a cut in its budget of around £30m to 2014, which they say will have serious staffing implications. The Chair of the South Wales Police Federation, Wayne Baker, said that after a £6.5m programme of cutbacks last year, which saw four Cardiff police stations earmarked for closure and police officers taken from back-office roles onto the frontline, it was difficult to see where further savings can be made.
“Police stations, PCSOs [Police Community Support Officers], other police staff roles and other areas of policing activity are likely to be threatened. It is our view, though, that the frontline police officer role cannot be degraded any further than it currently has.
“We will soon reach a point, if not already there, when radical and brave decisions will need to be taken by those charged with over-seeing the police service in Wales in order to ensure its future sustainability.”
Welsh Liberal Democrats voted against the police settlement in the Assembly last week because they argued that the capping and the funding criteria left police forces dangerously under-resourced. Welsh Liberal Democrat Local Government Spoksperson, Peter Black told Plenary that the Assembly Government does not have the money to pass on to Police Authorities. However, what makes this situation worse is the fact that police authorities are prevented from raising the money that they need for essential policing.
Related posts:
