Exclusive: Yorkshire police heating bills waste revealed

Campaigners have criticised the service and warn that since energy prices are feared to rise by as much as 70 per cent over the coming years, the money wasted could soon rocket into the millions unless urgent action is taken.

The figures come from Government ratings for how efficiently buildings are being used.

More than half of the buildings analysed belonging to South Yorkshire Police were given a G rating – the worst possible – while five of the 11 North Yorkshire Police buildings analysed also scored F and G ratings.

The headquarters of North Yorkshire Police since 1976, Newby Wiske Hall, a 17th century stately home near Northallerton, scored the worst rating for the entire region, wasting nearly three times more energy than Government recommendations.

The force boasts on its website that a working circular radiator installed by previous owner Albert Ernest Doxford, who bought the hall in 1921, is still operational.

The Yorkshire regional campaigner for Friends of the Earth, Simon Bowens, said: "It is of real concern to us, not just at the amount of waste these buildings are generating but also the lack of dialogue coming from the building owners.

"There is an awful lot that can be done to improve energy efficiency in these buildings but they seem to be thinking that they just cannot do anything.

"Over the next decade we are looking at seeing a rise in energy prices of 70 per cent and this would mean we would see millions of pounds of public money wasted."

A spokesman for the North Yorkshire force accepted that the cost in additional energy bills for heating inefficient buildings would run into six figures for that force alone.

A member of the North Yorkshire Police Authority, Coun Ruth Potter, said: "We are in an era of severely tightened budgets for the police and money that is being wasted on heating bills could be used to pay for more police officers.

"A lot of these buildings aren't fit for purpose any more."

The display energy certificate ratings are independent inspections which were made compulsory for public buildings over 1,000 square metres in 2008.

The worst performing force was South Yorkshire Police, which scored four Fs and eight Gs out of 15 buildings tested.

The force claims the findings are not robust because four of the buildings, Rotherham, Attercliffe, Mossway and Ecclesfield, are still heated by coal and wood pellets so were given default Gs, while West Bar police station, which also scored a G, has since been sold.

Rotherham councillor Reg Littleboy, vice chairman of the South Yorkshire Police Authority, said: "This is a very real problem and an issue we are all aware of.

"It has come at an unwelcome time in the current climate and squeezes us from both sides but if we can afford to address this in the short term, we need to fix this."

The best performing force is Humberside Police, only three out of its 10 buildings tested exceeding Government waste recommendations.

West Yorkshire Police has only published the results of five buildings so far, with one G rating – Stainbeck Police station in Leeds – but claim issues there have now been addressed.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "We have an ongoing programme of work looking at the whole of the estate to ensure it is fit for modern policing and is run as efficiently as possible."