Yorkshire police chief warns further cuts will make it impossible to deal with repeat of riots

The Home Office is demanding police forces axe 20 per cent from their budgets by 2015, with hundreds of officers already disappearing from Yorkshire’s streets.

And it is feared Ministers will return for another round of cuts in the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period as they struggle to balance the books.

Yesterday, on the anniversary of the 2011 riots that tore through the country, sparking widespread looting and destruction, Sir Norman Bettison, the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, said he had serious concerns further cuts could result in officers not being able to contain similar violence in the future.

West Yorkshire Police is slashing £67m from its budget, with 1,800 staff – half of whom are officers – set to go by 2015.

“There is bound to be a tipping point somewhere and the fact we haven’t reached it yet doesn’t mean there is more fat to cut,” Sir Norman told the Yorkshire Post.

“The thing I worry about, is it is exactly a year to the day since London was going up in flames and we had people at various parts in Leeds and Huddersfield who were wanting to take the police on. But we used our resources quickly and efficiently and sent them packing.

“Public disorder is always an ever-present risk. The time that you need numbers, resources and boots on the ground is the time that public disorder threatens.

“I would hate to leave this country and this county in particular without the cover that it needs to meet those eventualities. At the moment, we have that cover available and we proved it last year, but further cuts put it in jeopardy.

“We will do whatever is asked of us and we will do it without complaint, but my warning and reminder to those making the decisions is think about the response you need at times of crisis rather than just a Monday morning average school day.”

Sir Norman’s fears are echoed by the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, David Crompton.

“I have got major concerns if there are further cuts imposed on us in the next CSR period,” he said.

“We are doing our best to minimise the impact on frontline services. That will become impossible if there are further cuts in the next CSR. At the moment we are still keeping a lid on things and they are going in the right direction. That is a tribute to everyone in this force.”

Both chief constables have ruled out privatising frontline services and following the example of Lincolnshire Police which has signed a controversial £20m contract with G4S, in the wake of its failure to provide enough security staff at the Olympics.

“The Olympics has revealed what I have always known and that is when the chips are down the people you want are the ones with a sense of duty and vocation and not people seeking to make profit,” said Sir Norman, whose force is providing up to 780 officers to police the games.

“The danger is you outsource so much that when you want to respond to meet critical demand that might not have been put into the contract and you find yourself unable to respond.

“I don’t want to put West Yorkshire Police ever into the position where we want to turn the tap on and somebody else is in charge of the stopcock. I have no plans to outsource any of our services, not a single one.

“I do have plans for doing some of the back office stuff more efficiently by combining with other forces in the county. Before there is any suggestion of outsourcing to the private sector, there is more we need to do as a police service overall to make things more efficient.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Government is committed to ensuring the police have sufficient resources to protect communities from violent disorder.

“Spending some £14bn a year, it is right for the police to make their contribution to reducing the record budget deficit. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has been clear that forces are making savings while the frontline of policing is being protected overall.”