Government needs to rethink cuts to police budgets
THE Government must stop and rethink cuts to police budgets if it is to keep the public safe, Northumbria Police Federation has warned.
In the first issue of Northumbria Fed Focus since the new Government was elected, Jim Gray warned that the force is facing “very real challenges” following the last round of cuts.
Northumbria’s Federation Chairman said: “The reality is we have lost more than 900 officers since the coalition Government came into power in 2010, which is a significant reduction. That is around a 20% reduction in police officers, which mirrors the reduction in funding that we’ve seen.
“So now is the opportune time for the Government to examine whether that is enough. Because it is our view that we have given more than many other sectors, and we have still been expected to do the same with significantly less.”
Mr Gray (pictured) said the force had been “cut to the bone a long time ago”, and that there was nowhere left to make reductions.
He added: “The reality is that it has got to stop now. We would like the government to pause and really consider, and be rational and thoughtful, and I hope that the election result will help them to do that. They need to really focus on what they expect us to continue to achieve if they continue to reduce the funding that’s coming into the police in real terms.”
“I know Northumbria police are still having to find cuts based on the previous reduction in funding, and so the challenges are still there and very real for the force.”
Northumbria’s Policing and Crime Commissioner Vera Baird has said that her calls to prevent cuts to the force have “fallen on deaf ears”.
She said in a statement last month: “Local Policing is a priority here in Northumbria, it’s our eyes and ears of local communities, despite all the challenges put in our way by central government, top slicing of funds from our budget for government projects we have managed to protect local policing – for how long I can continue to do this I do not know.”