Leicestershire Police Staff Jobs Under Threat
Written by HFM News on 6th February 2024
Leicestershire’s Chief Constable has warned the roles of over 180 Police staff could be at risk as part of cost-cutting.
Rob Nixon has been told he has to find savings totalling £5.4m over the next year.
He blames inadequate government funding for situation and says an unfunded pay award for staff has left a big hole in the force’s finances.
With police officer numbers protected under the Police and Crime Commissioner’s budget, the axe is likely to fall on members of staff who support them.
Mr Nixon spoke at a meeting of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Crime Panel, during discussions about the force’s budget:
Rob Nixon (right) with Police Commissioner Rupert Matthews
Mr Nixon has urged for an urgent re-think of the ‘unfair’ funding formula used to calculate the government grant given to the force.
The panel, which agreed to write to the Policing Minister about the funding situation, endorsed a rise in the element of Council Tax bills paid to Leicestershire Police – it will go up by £13 for a Band D property, a rise of 4.76%.
Police Commissioner Rupert Matthews, who says he is constantly lobbying the Home Secretary for additional funding, said: “I have reluctantly agreed to increase the precept by £13 for a Band D property.
“Even with this increase, there remains a clear deficit and the Chief Constable has been tasked with finding efficiency savings of £5.4m to balance the budget over the year.
“I understand that household budgets are already tightly stretched.
“However, I have little option but to increase the precept if we are not to return to the days of reducing officer numbers. I will monitor the budget position closely to ensure that there is no slippage and that every investment is paying its way.
“I remain resolutely committed to cutting crime and keeping our law-abiding residents safe. I want to see more criminals brought to justice and more crimes prevented. This is what residents expect and deserve.”
A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police told HFM while redundancies have been mentioned, there are no agreed decisions yet and many different options are still being considered.
