The Conservative dominated Westminster government is running the risk of creating a perfect storm within our police service by cutting starting salaries for new police officers. This comes on top of budget cuts that have forced many forces to freeze recruitment, and reduce officer and civilian support staff numbers with redundancies. There will be consequences including a shortage of younger and older officers and a reduction in front line services as civilian support staff are also reduced in number.
Many police forces across the UK are already under severe pressure, as they attempt to balance budget cuts and a drop in personnel while simultaneously trying to maintain a high standard of policing and ensuring public safety. On Tuesday the Home Secretary announced that police officers' starting salary will be cut by 17% to £19,000. This is the latest of series of assaults on funding for public services which are ill thought out and ill-timed.
The Con Dem government’s unsustainable budget cuts and proposed changes in working practices will threaten to undermine the morale of hard-working officers in every force in England and Wales. Our police do a superb and difficult job but both the reputation of our police services and the safety of communities may be put at risk. The Con Dem London government’s priorities are clearly driven by ideology, rather than principle.
We have reached a historic low when it comes to this Westminster Government’s absolute lack of respect for the police service and a complete lack of understanding for the important role our police play in our communities and society. The short term decisions made by this Westminster government will have far-reaching and potentially long lasting consequences by making it more difficult for the police to ensure that they are able to deal with crime and public order.
One unforeseen consequence of Police budget cuts may be a boost to the not so secret Conservative privatisation agenda – back in February (2012) G4S a private security company signed a deal to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire. This agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police was the first of its kind in the UK and may hint at the future of policing as it is envisaged by Cameron’s Conservatives.
As part of the deal, around two-thirds of civilian support staff employed by the force is to be transferred across to the private sector. This contract might possibly save Lincolnshire Constabulary around £20 million pounds but at what cost over the medium term to support staff terms and condition and the provision of services to the public.
This probably a step too far for most people, but, despite any mutterings to the contrary from Labour in Wales’s representatives in Westminster our Police forces here in Wales are in my opinion acutely vulnerable to back door privatisation and further potential cuts in funding and services. The sooner Policing and Criminal Justice are devolved to Wales the better for all of us as this would strengthen the democratic process and protect our police services and our communities.
Showing posts with label Police Budget Cuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police Budget Cuts. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
SIMPLE ACCOUNTABILITY
Last time I checked we had four police forces in Wales: Dyfed-Powys, South Wales, North Wales and Gwent, I say that because with Cameron cost cutting agenda you never know if they will be merged or privatised to cut costs. From November there will be four elected Police Commissioners, nominally this should make Policing democratically accountable to local people but the speed and severity of the cuts and the creation of shared services (some very sensible) means that any new Police Commissioners may not have very much to do or manage.
The concept of elective police commissioners is very American, and may be no bad thing, but, is under the Con Dems little more than window dressing, a token gesture towards responsible and accountable policing. The actual reality is that, even with elected Police Commissioners, the people of Wales have less say over policing in their own communities than people in Jersey, Guernsey, and the inhabitants of the Isle of Man.
In Scotland, policing has always been a devolved function; it is time for it to be devolved here in Wales. Welsh government ministers in Cardiff should have a far greater understanding of local policing needs and the expectations of our communities than some distant political appointee in the Ministry of Justice.
The UK government is rigorously pursuing its ideologically driven public sector cost cutting agenda. They need to drop their proposals to make damaging cuts to our police service which has hitting officers' and support staff's morale hard. Last week we had the sight of tens of thousands of angry off-duty officers marching through London protesting about the cuts and the proposed changes in working practises.
A twenty percent cut to the policing budget will leave our communities and their residents much more vulnerable to crime, and put even further strain on our remaining police officers who already carry out difficult jobs, and the changes proposed by the Winsor Review will only make things worse.
At the end of the day, regardless of the reluctance of the current Welsh Government in Cardiff to do anything, the Welsh people have a fundamental democratic right to have a greater say in something so fundamental to civilised community life as policing. Policing is only one side of the coin, to make devolved policing work, there is also a need to devolve control of criminal justice.
I am convinced more than ever that now is the time is right to hold an open debate on devolving policing powers to the Welsh Government in Cardiff. Devolving policing powers would increase the accountability of the Welsh Government, strengthen the democratic process by allowing decisions which directly impact on the Welsh people to be made (and reviewed) here in Wales.
The Con Dem cuts may shape policing and set the policing agenda here in Wales for the next twenty years. Fundamentally policing decisions in Wales need to reflect the needs and concerns of our communities, not the cost cutting agenda of the current Home Secretary and the Ministry of Criminal Justice in London.
The concept of elective police commissioners is very American, and may be no bad thing, but, is under the Con Dems little more than window dressing, a token gesture towards responsible and accountable policing. The actual reality is that, even with elected Police Commissioners, the people of Wales have less say over policing in their own communities than people in Jersey, Guernsey, and the inhabitants of the Isle of Man.
In Scotland, policing has always been a devolved function; it is time for it to be devolved here in Wales. Welsh government ministers in Cardiff should have a far greater understanding of local policing needs and the expectations of our communities than some distant political appointee in the Ministry of Justice.
The UK government is rigorously pursuing its ideologically driven public sector cost cutting agenda. They need to drop their proposals to make damaging cuts to our police service which has hitting officers' and support staff's morale hard. Last week we had the sight of tens of thousands of angry off-duty officers marching through London protesting about the cuts and the proposed changes in working practises.
A twenty percent cut to the policing budget will leave our communities and their residents much more vulnerable to crime, and put even further strain on our remaining police officers who already carry out difficult jobs, and the changes proposed by the Winsor Review will only make things worse.
At the end of the day, regardless of the reluctance of the current Welsh Government in Cardiff to do anything, the Welsh people have a fundamental democratic right to have a greater say in something so fundamental to civilised community life as policing. Policing is only one side of the coin, to make devolved policing work, there is also a need to devolve control of criminal justice.
I am convinced more than ever that now is the time is right to hold an open debate on devolving policing powers to the Welsh Government in Cardiff. Devolving policing powers would increase the accountability of the Welsh Government, strengthen the democratic process by allowing decisions which directly impact on the Welsh people to be made (and reviewed) here in Wales.
The Con Dem cuts may shape policing and set the policing agenda here in Wales for the next twenty years. Fundamentally policing decisions in Wales need to reflect the needs and concerns of our communities, not the cost cutting agenda of the current Home Secretary and the Ministry of Criminal Justice in London.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
CUTS AND CONSEQUENCES
Gwent Police and South Wales Police forces have merged their forensics operations in a bid to save £1 million in public money, at a time when both forces are facing serious budget cuts, this is a sensible decision. The Westminster government announced a 20% cut in police budgets back in October 2010.
Gwent Police has to make some £34 million pounds worth of budget cuts (savings), and South Wales Police has to achieve some £47 million pounds worth of budget savings (cuts) by 2016. The new Joint Scientific Investigation Unit, which will be made up of staff from both forces, will employ 160 staff - 110 from South Wales Police and 50 from Gwent. The fact that no redundancies have been made in either force in creating the unit, should also be welcomed.
Our Police services are facing, much like the rest of us, difficult times financially, Gwent Police is planning to close 17 stations to the public as part of cost-cutting measure, changes which would save around £500,000. Despite the spin and the talk of ‘redesigning the way people accessed its services’, when the dust settles a cut is still and cut and a closure is still a closure. What this means is that from July front counter services won’t be available at:
• Abertillery
• Alway
• Bargoed
• Bedwas
• Bettws
• Brynmawr
• Caerphilly
• Caldicot
• Chepstow
• Rhymney
• Risca
• Maindee
• Monmouth
• Pill
• Pontypool
• Tredegar
• Ystrad Mynach
Gwent Police will retain the Police stations as bases for police officers, specialist departments or office accommodation. Newport’s Central Police station will remain open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Police Stations at Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale, Cwmbran and Blackwood will also remain open to the public from 08:00 to 20:00 GMT, seven days a week. Similar cost cutting measures are being undertaken by South Wales Police and North Wales Police forces.
The Police budget cuts have already lead to a reduction in Police numbers in Wales and England. There were 135,838 police officers in September 2011 - 6,012 (4.2%) fewer than the 141,850 of a year earlier. Only Surrey Police out of the 43 forces in England and Wales actually increased police officer numbers. The figures also show that police numbers have been cut further in Wales and England than they have been in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
One possibly unforeseen consequence of Police budget cuts may be a boost to the Conservative privatisation agenda – G4S a private security company has signed a deal to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire. This agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police is first of its kind in the UK. As part of the deal, around two-thirds of civilian support staff employed by the force are to be transferred across to the private sector. This contract may will save Lincolnshire Constabulary around £20 million pounds but we may well ask at what cost over the medium term to support staff terms and condition and the provision of services to the public.
While this is probably a step too far for most people, until Policing and Criminal Justice are devolved to the National Assembly. Despite any mutterings to the contrary from Labour in Wales’s elected representatives in Westminster our Police forces here in Wales are in my opinion acutely vulnerable to back door privatisation and further cuts in services. The sooner Policing and Criminal Justice are devolved the better for all of us here in Wales.
Gwent Police has to make some £34 million pounds worth of budget cuts (savings), and South Wales Police has to achieve some £47 million pounds worth of budget savings (cuts) by 2016. The new Joint Scientific Investigation Unit, which will be made up of staff from both forces, will employ 160 staff - 110 from South Wales Police and 50 from Gwent. The fact that no redundancies have been made in either force in creating the unit, should also be welcomed.
Our Police services are facing, much like the rest of us, difficult times financially, Gwent Police is planning to close 17 stations to the public as part of cost-cutting measure, changes which would save around £500,000. Despite the spin and the talk of ‘redesigning the way people accessed its services’, when the dust settles a cut is still and cut and a closure is still a closure. What this means is that from July front counter services won’t be available at:
• Abertillery
• Alway
• Bargoed
• Bedwas
• Bettws
• Brynmawr
• Caerphilly
• Caldicot
• Chepstow
• Rhymney
• Risca
• Maindee
• Monmouth
• Pill
• Pontypool
• Tredegar
• Ystrad Mynach
Gwent Police will retain the Police stations as bases for police officers, specialist departments or office accommodation. Newport’s Central Police station will remain open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Police Stations at Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale, Cwmbran and Blackwood will also remain open to the public from 08:00 to 20:00 GMT, seven days a week. Similar cost cutting measures are being undertaken by South Wales Police and North Wales Police forces.
The Police budget cuts have already lead to a reduction in Police numbers in Wales and England. There were 135,838 police officers in September 2011 - 6,012 (4.2%) fewer than the 141,850 of a year earlier. Only Surrey Police out of the 43 forces in England and Wales actually increased police officer numbers. The figures also show that police numbers have been cut further in Wales and England than they have been in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
One possibly unforeseen consequence of Police budget cuts may be a boost to the Conservative privatisation agenda – G4S a private security company has signed a deal to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire. This agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police is first of its kind in the UK. As part of the deal, around two-thirds of civilian support staff employed by the force are to be transferred across to the private sector. This contract may will save Lincolnshire Constabulary around £20 million pounds but we may well ask at what cost over the medium term to support staff terms and condition and the provision of services to the public.
While this is probably a step too far for most people, until Policing and Criminal Justice are devolved to the National Assembly. Despite any mutterings to the contrary from Labour in Wales’s elected representatives in Westminster our Police forces here in Wales are in my opinion acutely vulnerable to back door privatisation and further cuts in services. The sooner Policing and Criminal Justice are devolved the better for all of us here in Wales.
Monday, 12 July 2010
THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST!
With the Con Dem Government actively preparing to hack the public sector budget to hell and back - something that will inevitably damage front line public services and effectively punish the many for the reckless greed driven misdeeds of the few - we are all waiting for the cuts to start. When the cuts begin to bite we may find ourselves in wholly brand new territory, with a Conservative (in action if not name) Government (despite the presence of Lib Dem office seekers), seriously considering reducing the Police budget and cutting Police (both uniformed and civilian support staff) numbers whilst trying to deal with the crime related effects of the recession.
Now this is something that even Mrs Thatcher in her more lucid moments (and she had some), well before she went mad towards the end of her tenure as PM never even considered doing for a moment. Mr’s T at the start of her destructive and divisive period in office made sure that she raised Police pay (and improved conditions) – something which won her a combination of tacit approval, tacit support or at least a degree of passivity from the Police service, which had been neglected under the previous struggling Labour Government – during who's tenure in office there had been an erosion of police pay and working conditions.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, speaking at an annual lecture to the Police Federation, made the comparison between the poor record on organised crime and the good progress made in countering terrorism. He went on to say that the Police Service's response to organised crime has been "uncoordinated" and "inadequate". He went on to say that there were 60,000 organised groups, comprising 38,000 criminals and warned that cuts and elected police chiefs could further erode the capability to target these groups. He said that organised crime cost the UK at least £40 billion a year but combating it was not a priority for chief constables, with only about 11% of organised criminals were being actively targeted.
Food for thought - yet faced with paying for New Labour’s reckless spending, the ongoing financial legacy of Blair's wars, bailing out the banks, replacing Trident (an essential prop of Britain is to stride the world stage clinging on to the pretensions of being a World power), etc - the new Government finds itself just a s skint as Gordon's lot were. Is it just me or do people find it a tad odd how they can always manage to find money for their wars, their banks and other things when they need to?
So a few months in despite the best efforts at spin, David (“Call me Dave”) Cameron's Con Dem Government has brought itself to what can best be described as their budgetary Rubicon moment - 'To cut or not to cut and how deep?' So here we are with serious consideration being given to reducing Police numbers and cutting back on operational policing and the myriad of police support workers who fulfil a hundred routine (and not so routine) tasks behind the front line? That's one way to make our communities suffer as the cuts begin to bite...
Friday, 28 May 2010
POLICING CUTS
News that Wales' four police authorities are to have their budgets cut by a total of £6.4m this year is not good news. The cuts have been announced by Nick Herbert (Policing and Criminal Justice Minister ) as part of a UK-wide cut of £125m in funding for forces. South Wales Police faces cuts of £2.8m, North Wales Police faces cuts of £1.4m, while Gwent Police faces cuts of £1.3m and Dyfed-Powys Police cuts of around £900,000.
The cuts in funding for 2010/2011 have been announced as part of efforts to help reduce the UK's budget deficit. Last year (June 2009) there were proposed reductions in the number of Police stations and threats to reduce services. Heaven knows where these cuts will fall and what price will be paid when it comes to providing law and order and front-line policing in our communities.
The bottom line is that while there should always be room for cost saving, but, not at the price of important front-line Policing services and Police Stations which need to be staffed and maintained. One question that needs to be asked is that if Policing was devolved to Cardiff, would our Police Forces and our communities be facing cuts on this scale or would we be able to do things differently?
The cuts in funding for 2010/2011 have been announced as part of efforts to help reduce the UK's budget deficit. Last year (June 2009) there were proposed reductions in the number of Police stations and threats to reduce services. Heaven knows where these cuts will fall and what price will be paid when it comes to providing law and order and front-line policing in our communities.
The bottom line is that while there should always be room for cost saving, but, not at the price of important front-line Policing services and Police Stations which need to be staffed and maintained. One question that needs to be asked is that if Policing was devolved to Cardiff, would our Police Forces and our communities be facing cuts on this scale or would we be able to do things differently?
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