Ministers at the Home Office were this morning
challenged to tell the whole truth about Police Reserves.
, PCC for Nottinghamshire and
Chair of the Police Reform and Transformation Board, speaking at
this morning's CIPFA Annual Police and Fire Conference,
said:
"Ministers are constantly telling us that the
Police have £1.6bn in Reserves. They neglect to tell us that
Reserves levels are down by 22% since 2015 and that they are set
to fall by a further 50% to£806mMarch 2020.
General Reserves, the amount that can be used to
support the revenue budget, have remained steady and will
continue to stay somewhere around 3%, which is the generally
recognised standard level.
There is no shed full of money in the bank to
support Police Budgets into the future.
It's all gone.
Since 2010 the Police Grant has been cut by
£2.3bn or 25%. That's why police numbers are at their lowest for
30 years with 20,000 officer posts going since 2010.
Police budgets are capped in flat cash terms -
that's a real-terms cut. I estimate that police budgets will
reduce further still, by about £350m each year for the next two
years. What that means is that a further 6,000 police officer
posts look set to go.
The Chancellor's budget is just two weeks away
on November 22. That's why Chief Police Officers and PCCs are
bidding for extra resources.
Our bid is for an extra £440m next year and a
further £845m the following year.
If we were successful we would be able to employ
5000 neighbourhood policing officers plus 1100 armed
officers.
In this year of unprecedented threat and attacks
the Chancellor should wake up and sit up.
At the end of the day people want to feel safe
and secure in their homes and streets.
I hope he listens and acts."
