Right-wing report ignores size of cuts to police staff, says Unite
5 September 2011
A new right-wing report saying that police officers should get
out of the office and into the frontline fails to recognise the
scale of the current cutbacks to police staff, Unite, the largest
union in the country, said today (Monday 5 September).
Unite, which represents nearly 5,000 police staff, said that
police officers were having to take on work performed by police
staff because the coalition’s cuts had meant that more than of
4,200 police staff (full time equivalents) has been axed across the
43 forces in England and Wales in the six months up to March
2011.
Unite national officer, Peter Allenson, said: ”The right-wing is
contradicting itself. The right-leaning Policy Exchange think tank
is claiming today that millions of pounds would be saved if police
staff did more jobs performed by officers.
”Yet, at the same time, the cuts implemented by the
Conservative-led coalition are leading to many police staff being
axed. The right hand does not appear to know what the other right
hand is doing. As police staff are being made redundant, police
officers are being given their functions to perform. This has an
impact on the ability of the police force to perform its role –
ironic, given the recent disturbances in our cities.”
Unite said that, according to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary, between March 2010 and March 2015, a total of 34,100
people will be cut from the police force; 16,100 of these will be
police staff.
From Home Office figures, it is revealed that, between September
2010 and March 2011, there was a fall of 4,217 police staff full
time equivalents across the 43 forces in England and Wales.
There has been a fall of 5,586 police staff over the 12 month
period between March 2010 and March 2011.
Police staff include: scenes of crimes officers, call takers and
dispatchers, sex offender managers, detention officers, front
office staff, police community support officers, drugs referral
workers, arrest referral officers, and firearms licensing.
ENDS
Notes to news editors:
For further information please contact Peter Allenson on 07980
721 434 and/or Unite communications officer Shaun Noble on 07768
693940
