Concerns that police staff cuts in Fife could have a serious impact on policing in the coming years have been highlighted as the force’s budget for 2011-12 came under intense scrutiny.
With a 3.12% funding cut likely to leave Fife Constabulary facing a £4.3 million shortfall, the force admitted it had to axe 42 police staff to help balance the books.
Along with it came warnings that it may be the tip of the iceberg, with estimates suggesting a £4 million budget gap is likely in 2012-13, and possibly £5.8 million the following year.
The 9% cut in civilian staff is expected to save £1.1 million over the next 12 months, while £2.3 million will be carried forward from 2010-11 to reduce the burden on next year’s finances.
However, such a carry-forward is unlikely to be available in future years and could signal deeper cuts down the line.
Yesterday councillors on Fife’s police, fire and safety committee accepted the force’s budget gap would mainly have to be met from police staff salaries, despite major efforts to control costs.
Those efforts should “buffer” the effects of the force’s rising cost base-expected to rise by £3.9 million in 2011-12 due to increased costs, progression of staff on pre-negotiated pay scales and costs outwith the force’s control but it was acknowledged the cuts could adversely affect policing as officers have to fill posts vacated by support staff.
As well as staff cuts, other cost-cutting measures include a reduction in police vehicles and scaling back the police special priority payment scheme.
Chief Constable Norma Graham said the force had been looking at ways to be “leaner, flatter and more efficient” in recent years and stressed the cuts for 2011-12 were not as deep as anticipated, but she acknowledged they were still significant and suggested there was a real risk they would affect the “depth and breadth of quality service that local people value.”Community engagement modelThat said, she underlined the force’s commitment to the community engagement model, which has brought about some of Fife’s best-yet crime detection figures and giving the public the best service possible-also highlighting how it had “delivered more with less” in the past year.
“We will continue to provide a service that’s very much focused on the community and will protect and preserve frontline policing as far as we possibly can.”
Her comments were backed by Deputy Chief Constable Andrew Barker, who noted, “We’ve tried to look at everything which will have the least possible effect on frontline service delivery.
“But eventually we will come to a point where it will start to have an impact.”
He added that opportunities for saving cash without having any significant impact were likely to diminish in future years.
As 88.2% of the force’s costs were in staffing, finding savings had been a huge problem as police officers are officers of the Crown and cannot be made redundant.
The SNP’s pledge to maintain police officer numbers has also effectively tied Fife police chiefs’ hands, as a larger funding cut would have been expected if Fife Council had refused to sign up to the Scottish Government’s budget settlement.
Indeed, Fife has been asked to maintain the government target of 1104 officers throughout the financial year. That means the force had to look at police staff and non-salary expenditure for savings, with several cost-cutting measures outlined at yesterday’s meeting.
In addition to the cut in police staff, the force hopes to save £580,000 by trimming the amount spent on special priority payments a scheme under which one-off bonuses from £500 to £3000 are made to officers considered to be in the most demanding and difficult frontline operational roles.Vehicles to goIn all, 20 police vehicles and six motorcycles will also go, saving around £30,000, and changes to the force’s cleaning contract should recoup a further £130,000.
Savings in external agency fees, external events and leaflets and printing should total £50,000, while the removal of non-essential uniform and canteen subsidy will save £40,000. Most of the remaining shortfall is expected to be met through further savings in terms and conditions.
Despite the bleak outlook, Fife police’s “sensitive approach” in cutting staff numbers through natural wastage and workforce planning was lauded by councillors after they heard the force had explored a number of ways to cut costs without affecting core posts.
Voluntary reduction of contracted hours, flexible working, career breaks, allowing staff to take unpaid leave and early retirement have all been techniques used, with improvements in attendance management, a cut in overtime costs and other initiatives to free up staff time also contributing.
Fife has also been in talks with Tayside, Central Scotland and Lothian and Borders to share resources in certain areas of work, although the significant savings to be realised there are not likely to bear fruit until 2012.
However, Fife Council’s head of finance Brian Livingston admitted the estimates for future budget gaps were at the “cautionary low end” as they did not include inflationary pressures.
“We need to ensure we get the police budget on a sustainable footing, so it’s not just about one-year budgeting,” he said.
The budget now goes forward to the full council for its approval next month.