Police chief says crime fight will suffer as jobs axed

Tim Hollis said the loss of 139 officers and 92 support staff from Humberside Police by March 2012 was the start of a series of cuts which would impact on operational policing.

Humberside Police Authority approved the budget reductions yesterday after hearing the force needed to save £30m by 2015-16. Members also voted to freeze the council tax precept and agreed to use £6m from reserves in the next two years to help plug the gap.

Further redundancies may be discussed next month when the authority meets again to consider the long-term financial position of the force.

The shrinking budget follows the coalition Government’s announcement that grants to police forces will be slashed by 20 per cent in real terms by 2015.

Mr Hollis said the force had “a good, solid foundation on which to build”.

“We will not have to significantly change the force structure because we have already started this work,” he added. “Our head of human resources is shared with South Yorkshire Police and I have already reduced the number of members of the senior management team from eight to six.

“But to take 20 per cent out of a force is quite a cut and it cannot be done without having an effect on operational policing.”

Despite the cuts, the force will continue to borrow money to finance its plans to spend more than £40m in the next two years on new buildings, including new headquarters in Hull.

Mr Hollis said the current Hull headquarters building was “past its sell-by date” and suggested that cash could be raised by selling off other parts of the estate after the project’s completion.

Police authority chairman Councillor Chris Matthews said: “The cost will be spread over 50 years, the same way you would pay your mortgage, whereas the funding gap that we are looking to fill is a permanent saving every year.”