Top jobs go in police shake-up as force battles to slash costs

With all areas of public spending being squeezed, the force wants to save 15m by 2014.

Councillors will be updated on the progress of the cost-saving "Choices" project at tomorrow's meeting of Humberside Police Authority.

Chief constable Tim Hollis has ratified nearly all the recommendations of a review carried out by an independent consultant aimed at streamlining the force's command structure. They involve downgrading, merging and deleting a number of senior posts to make a saving of 813,962.

Roles to go include an inspector and chief inspector in the human resources development branch, a chief inspector in the corporate development branch and three inspectors and five constables in D division, which covers Hull.

The force will no longer temporarily promote officers to take on specific projects.

The force intends to make the changes through "natural wastage" as officers retire.

A report to the meeting says the force has to balance the risk of doing too little too late in terms of gaining permanent savings, against doing "too much too soon and destabilising the performance of the force in the process."

Chairman of Humberside Police Federation Steve Garmston is sceptical.

He said there were areas of savings they didn't "wholly disagree with" but others where "it's a question if in the fullness of time it proves it was a wise reduction whether people of a lower rank or pay can produce the same results for the public."

He said: "I can't see if we lose so many staff as Choices is proposing that it leaves us in a position to carry the workload and the expectation of the public as we do at the moment."

One of the changes would see a chief inspector rather than a superintendent or higher-ranking officer making decisions on dealing with a firearms incident.

Mr Garmston said: "It's a concern in that they are not experienced as such in that area... but having said that if they have appropriate training and they are rewarded appropriately I can live with it."

Of the 15m, 9m will be ploughed back into services, potentially including funding police community support officers after central funding from the Government ends next year.

The building of the new Bridewell on Clough Road in the city centre to replace Queens Gardens Police Station, could also be paid for by Choices, said Mr Garmston.

One of the most controversial aspects of the Choices programme so far has been the axeing of 1,500-a-year payments to special constables.

The move sparked a long-running political row, with councillors in Hull formally requesting the chief constable to reconsider.

However the force hasn't budged and is confident that Specials will continue to apply to join the force. The move will save around 1m over four years.

Recruitment has begun once again, and tomorrow's meeting will be told the police are looking to take on another 90 specials over the coming year.

A report to the police authority adds: "Whilst there is a probability that a number of serving specials will leave the service as a result of the termination of the bounty, the majority will not and the force is confident that we will continue to build on the sure foundations of recent years."

Currently there are 94 applications from people wanting to become a Special going through the pipeline with another 120 on the waiting list.

Humberside and Durham are only the two forces in the country to offer the payment.

No one was available for comment from Humberside Police.