Business as usual can't continue

Pay cuts for police officers are essential in order to minimise front-line job losses at forces in England and Wales says Teresa May, the home secretary.

After a likely two-year pay freeze is taken into account and increases in policing precept as part of council tax bills, the overall average reduction in real terms funding for the police will be much less than four per cent each year.

However, Mrs May said she did not want to downplay the scale of the reductions.

“They are challenging, yet achievable. But they will only be achieved if our police forces reform and modernise. Business as usual is not an option for our chief constables. I am confident that they understand this and will meet this challenge with determination.”

She identified savings would be made in the back office through slashing bureaucracy, identifying savings and efficiencies that could save more than the spending reductions the police will need to achieve – without hitting front line service.

Mrs May said savings of £1.15 billion per year, estimated by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) as possible if the least efficient forces brought themselves up to the average level of efficiency, was not enough. She wants all forces to increase efficiencies to the level of the most efficient.

“Across a range of back office or what we call middle office functions – like finance, HR, training, custody and control rooms – forces can and must improve their productivity. If forces improved productivity and adjusted to the level of spend typical in the more efficient forces, we could add another £350 million of savings to those calculated in HMIC’s report.”

Through an agreed approach, better contracts, more joint purchasing, a smaller number of different IT systems and greater private sector involvement will also deliver hundreds of millions of pounds - over and above the savings identified by HMIC.

But she said pay restraint and pay reform must form part of the package and subject to any recommendations from the Police Negotiating Board (PNB), there should be a two year pay freeze in policing, as across the public sector. This will save another £350 million.

She added that action on pay must be as fair as possible, to be reflected in the soon to be announced Winsor Review, while stressing that she would ensure remuneration "recognises the front line" – and she had asked for this to be taken into account.

Mrs May added: "The Winsor Review will be the most comprehensive review of pay and conditions in more than 30 years – I have asked Tom to make recommendations that will let the police manage their resources to serve the public more effectively and get better value for taxpayers' money.

"I want his recommendations to enable modern management practices to be implemented, help the service to manage budgets, maximise officer and staff deployment to frontline roles and enable front line services to be maintained and improved."

The Home Secretary emphasised: "The Review's conclusions must be fair – they must be seen to be fair. (Officers) should be rewarded reasonably for what they do."

As previously reported on PoliceOracle.com, the first part of the Winsor Review is due to be published on March 8 having been moved from the end of February. The second instalment is expected to follow in the summer.

Mr Winsor – who is a former Rail Regulator – has said that nothing will be off limits in his probe, which will cover officers, police staff and PCSOs.

Unease at nature of reforms and feeling "undervalued"

Simon Reed, from the Police Federation, said she "clearly undervalued" the work of officers and morale would suffer. Mr Reed also said the pay freeze would mean "a considerable sacrifice" for officers and their families, and accused the home secretary of undermining the Winsor review by making her speech ahead of its publication.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government had "put chief constables in an impossible position with a 20% front-loaded cut to their budgets".

"This is a desperate and disingenuous attempt to distract people from the fact that whatever reforms are introduced, police forces across the country have already said they are being forced to cut the jobs of around 10,000 police officers," she added.

However, Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said officers were "realistic" and hoped wage cuts would save jobs.

"I think most of our staff would obviously understand that bargain," he added.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has suggested scrapping a host of additional payments and bonuses, as well as reducing the amount of overtime paid for working on public holidays.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has also called for an end to all bonuses for police officers.

In 2008, the then Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith rejected a recommended pay increase, but was forced to back down after marches by officers.

Last year, a report by the independent Centre for Crime and Justice Studies said spending on overtime in England and Wales had increased by 90% since 1998 despite a record rise in the number of officers.

The police overtime bill in 2009 was nearly £400m.

Sources:

Police Oracle, BBC, Police Professional