Hundreds of jobs at risk as force hunts for £40m savings

CCTV operators, enquiry desk clerks and staff working to combat domestic violence are among the employees whose jobs are under threat as South Yorkshire Police seeks savings of more than £40m over four years.

Confidential documents seen by the Yorkshire Post reveal it is planning to cut its workforce by 103 officers and 278 staff next year.

Draft proposals sent 10 days ago to trade unions, the Police Federation and the Superintendents’ Association include cutting the force’s Major Incident Team by two officers and six staff, resulting in “a reduced capacity for investigation of major crime”, and submitting fewer exhibits from crime scenes for forensic analysis.

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There are plans to cut a team of eight officers – one sergeant and seven constables – from the Road Crime Unit, which could hamper the ability to investigate “two-in-one” burglaries in which criminals break into houses to steal car keys before driving away in their victims’ vehicles.

Sixteen officers and 45 staff are poised to leave the Sheffield policing district, where nine enquiry desks would be reduced to three. Only one desk would be open to the public on Bank Holidays.

In Rotherham district, 14 officers and 42 staff are under threat. There are plans to close Rawmarsh and Maltby enquiry desks and to leave CCTV cameras unmanned at times.

CCTV coverage in the Barnsley and Doncaster policing districts is also likely to be affected by the cuts. Barnsley’s policing strength is due to be reduced by 14 officers and 26 staff, while Doncaster is expected to lose 11 officers and 35 staff, including employees in the domestic violence team.

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The papers state the staffing cuts in Doncaster would have a “massive impact on support functions across the district”.

Officers’ attendance at conferences is to be “streamlined and managed”, resulting in a 25 per cent in the budget for hotels and train fares.

The proposals rely on the force’s most experienced officers deciding to retire. There are no current plans to invoke pension regulation A19, which allows the forced retirement of officers with more than 30 years’ service but Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes refused to rule out in future.

Mr Hughes has vowed to protect front-line policing as much as possible but, like most other constabularies which serve large cities, the force has been heavily reliant on Whitehall grants in recent years.

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A force spokesman said: “This letter predates our latest plans, and the voluntary severance scheme being offered to staff. At this stage in the process it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on something that is no more than a draft discussion document.”