Police must slash costs by £4m as full impact of recession is felt

COST-CUTTING measures of up to 4m are being enforced by North Yorkshire Police to ensure that it can balance its budget as the recession bites.

A blueprint has been drawn up by the North Yorkshire Police Authority for the next financial year which includes measures to shave spending from its proposed budget of almost 140m.

A total of 3.1m in savings has already been achieved during this financial year after a force-wide review, but a further 940,000 in efficiencies needs to be made to balance the books.

However, the Government has warned police forces across the country that further multi-million pound savings will need to be made in the aftermath of the economic downturn, and the North Yorkshire Police Authority predicts this will mean a further 9m in efficiencies during the next two years.

Senior officials from the Police Federation have warned that front-line services could be placed under increasing pressure as efforts intensify to implement cost-cutting measures.

Figures released by the federation have shown that the number of officers up to the rank of chief inspector in North Yorkshire has fallen from 1,648 in March 2007 to 1,482 in December last year.

However, the police authority has maintained that an extra 66 officers and 19 new police community support officers have been recruited during the current financial year.

The chairman of the North Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, Mark Botham, said: “It is in the interests of safety for both our members and the general public that we can continue to maintain a sufficient police service across the vast area we cover in North Yorkshire.

“We are appreciative of the efforts of both the police authority and the force itself to pursue financial prudence and the economic situation is obviously extremely difficult, but any future efficiencies should not affect front-line services.”

The force’s current annual budget of almost 136m includes more than 76m in Government funding, while local council taxpayers provide a further 59m.

As part of the proposals for the forthcoming financial year, the police authority is planning to increase its share of the council tax bill by three per cent to 205.15 for an average band D property – equating to an additional 5.98 per year.

The police authority’s chairwoman, Jane Kenyon, said: “The police authority is very conscious that the current national financial position is putting many local people in very difficult personal circumstances, and we would wish to minimise any further increases in council tax if we can possibly help it.

‘Over the coming years, all public services will face tightening budgets and it is important that the police play its part in keeping the council tax increase to an absolute minimum.

“The North Yorkshire force has made major strides over the past few years and we are proud to say that the area remains one of the safest in the country.

“We do face a dilemma this year – either to maximise the income, through rises in council tax in the next financial year, to ‘buffer’ us against grant reductions in later years, or to keep the council tax levels down as much as possible next year, thereby possibly making our longer term financial situation worse.”

The police authority has stressed that front-line services have not been affected by cost-cutting measures, and no redundancies have been imposed to make this year’s savings.

A public consultation about the proposed budget has been launched, and the police authority is due to consider its new financial plan at a meeting on February 5.

More information, as well as the chance to complete an online survey, is available at www.nypa.gov.uk/budget1011

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