Cumbria Constabulary is continuing to prepare for challenging budget cuts announced yesterday in the Government’s comprehensive spending review.
The Chancellor confirmed that policing will receive average cuts of 4 per cent every year for four years. Early indications are that the central government police funding will reduce by 20 per cent in real terms by 2014-15.
Based on this information the early indications are that the Constabulary will have to cut its budget by between £15million and £20million by 2014/15. However, it will be December before the Home Office announces Cumbria Constabulary’s grant settlement, which is the Constabulary’s main income stream. This will provide further clarity on the savings that will be required.
Chief Constable Craig Mackey said: “The comprehensive spending review has provided us with some guidance as to how much Cumbria Constabulary will need to save, but it is an incomplete jigsaw, and it will be December before we learn how much we will receive from the Government in our settlement grant. The Police Authority will then agree our final budget in February 2011.
“It is without doubt that Cumbria Constabulary will be a smaller organisation due to the savings we need to make, but we are firmly committed to trying to protect frontline policing. Unfortunately this cannot mean maintaining the front line at current levels. We will do everything we can to maintain officer numbers on the streets of Cumbria, but face difficult choices around keeping police stations open, maintaining our fleet and conducting back office functions.
“The Constabulary is well placed to meet the challenges that we face in the budget cuts. A significant amount of work is already underway to identify efficiencies, and this has been further supported by our recruitment freeze in all but exceptional circumstances.
“Given the cuts that we have already made, we expect to end the 2010/11 financial year with 70 fewer officers, giving a total of 1,200 officers and 130 fewer police staff, giving a total of 740.
Chair of Cumbria Police Authority, Ray Cole, added: “Yesterday’s announcement gave us the initial outline of what our budget will look like over the next four years. It will be early December before we have all the details required to finalise the budget.
“The Police Authority will play a crucial role in the coming months, overviewing the Constabulary budget to ensure that the people of Cumbria receive the most cost effective level of service within the reduced budget.
“The Police Authority is firmly committed to minimising the impacts on frontline policing and continuing to make Cumbria a safe place.”
No comments:
Post a Comment