300 police jobs on the line

11:00am Tuesday 25th September 2007

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NORTH Yorkshire Police could lose £10 million in funding next year - the equivalent of 300 officers.

The shocking news was revealed at a meeting of North Yorkshire Police Authority and, if it goes ahead, may lead to jobs being axed or positions not being filled.

Jeremy Holderness, the authority's clerk and monitoring officer, told members that a Government consultation on the way police forces across the country are funded could lead to the 2008/09 grant being cut by £9.7 million because of the very low crime rate in the county - in fact for the first three months of this year it had the lowest crime rate in England.

North Yorkshire's Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said the cut would have "devastating" results.

He said: "Of all the things that are on the horizon this is the most devastating. It's only a consultation, but it sets out quite clearly that we could receive £10 million less.

"This is not just a one-off thing but is cumulative and could affect us year in and year out. We've had significant success and have made this the lowest area for crime in England. But this could significantly alter the way we deliver our services.

"We would have to look at reducing staff and that has to impact how we do things. We would have to think seriously about what we can and cannot deliver."

Mark Botham, the chairman of North Yorkshire Police Federation, said any cuts would have serious implications for the safety of officers and members of the public.

He said that if cuts of £10 million led to cuts of 300 frontline policing posts the force would have the same staffing levels it had in 2000/01 when 50 per cent of operational officers were assaulted while on duty. There are currently 1,633 federation members in North Yorkshire.

Mr Botham said: "We would have serious concerns for the health, safety and welfare of our officers and members of the public."

North Yorkshire Police currently receives £72 million a year from central Government, 56 per cent of its total funding.

Areas with high crime rates would continue to receive funding at the current levels.

Mr Holderness said: "You have to argue against the perverse incentive of rewarding people for not performing very well in terms of crime."

Less grant money could lead to an increase in crime as the resources for police officers may not be there.

Mr Holderness said: "Is the public going to accept the ramifications of a £10 million increase in crime."

Alternatively, he said, members of the police authority would have to weigh up whether the public would accept an increase in the precept to bridge the hole left in funds by the Government cuts.

City of York councillor Keith Orrell, who is also a member of the police authority, said the consultation was the most critical issue the force faces in the foreseeable future.

He said: "If we were to lose £10 million that must impact on the number of officers we can have on the streets."

The consultation is due to be completed at the end of October and the grant settlement will be announced at the end of November.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office confirmed a consultation was taking place and admitted it could finish with North Yorkshire losing cash. But she denied it was because of the low crime rate in the county - something that North Yorkshire Police Authority disputes.

The spokeswoman said: "We're currently undertaking a consultation exercise, but this is a minor change to police funding formula.

"The funding formula has never been based on crime levels as this would involve penalising success and rewarding failure. Rather the funding formula takes account of population and a wide range of social and demographic aspects. We do not accept that North Yorkshire's low crime levels means it would receive less crime funding in the future."

Money held in reserve

IN RECENT years North Yorkshire Police has sparked controversy over the large amount of money in its reserves.

At one point it hit almost £35 million yet the council tax precept was still increased.

But that figure had fallen by £6 million to £29 million by March 31 of this year and there are plans to cut the amount of cash in the bank down to £9.4 million - which is the amount it needs for contingencies - by 2012.

But if the Government grant is cut, it raises the possibility that the reserves could be used to plug the shortfall.

North Yorkshire Police Authority's clerk and monitoring officer, Jeremy Holderness, said that was always a possibility. He said: "That's one option available to us but in the next few years we have that reducing down to £9 million through things we were planning to spend on. But if we have a funding gap the authority might decide to cut other things to try to balance the books."