Staff roles to be cut as West Mercia Police face £8m shortfall
Force hasn't confirmed number of roles that will be lost
The number of staff working alongside officers at West Mercia Police will be reduced - to try help plug an £8m budget shortage.
Bosses say significant savings have already been made through redundancies and changes to shift patterns, but continued pressures mean further cuts will have to be made.
A statement says, "We have continued to face challenges as a result of Government funding not keeping pace with inflation and a growing demand on our services. We are also aware of future pressures, which includes things like the recent pay announcement. This situation has been exacerbated by an underestimate this year of the cost of the police officer workforce. This increased cost primarily arises from the combination of sustained uplift in officers in recent years and the number of officers now reaching higher incremental pay points. In essence, our officer cost is higher than was budgeted for. Whilst the Police and Crime Commissioner, along with other PCCs and Chiefs around the country, has reached out to the Home Office to stress the financial strain we are under in policing in general, this isn’t a solution for this current situation."
Chief Constable Richard Cooper said, "Police staff bring a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience, often from the private sector and areas outside of policing and make a huge contribution to the service we deliver and the communities we serve. The difficult decision we have made, to make further police staff redundancies, is certainly not something we would choose to be doing. This decision should not undervalue or undermine the contribution police staff make, and their absence will be sharply felt.
"Protecting people from harm remains our absolute priority. We absolutely stand by our commitment to the neighbourhood policing guarantee and ensuring our local communities can continue to have confidence in the service we deliver and that we continue to respond to emergencies."
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said, "This is not a position that I or the public would expect for their police force to be in. However, I want to reassure our communities that action is being taken to address these issues and ensure that the force is able to continue delivering an efficient and effective service and keep communities safe.
"The Chief Constable and I are making best use of all the resources and flexibilities we have at our disposal. But it is not enough.
"Let’s be clear. There are wider, fundamental issues around how central funding is distributed to police forces that hasn’t been fixed by the current, or previous, Governments. This unfairness, that I have raised on a number of occasions, has exacerbated the current challenges we face. In addition, there are growing mandates from the Government dictating how we should spend the grant we receive for our police force, communities and their needs.
"I will support the force as they navigate these budgetary challenges, continuing to play my part and ensuring that the communities of West Mercia are kept safe and feel safe."