Case Studies

Station downsize, force cuts

by Mark Rowe

A sign of the times: the removal vans have been outside Bath police station. Avon and Somerset Police stress that they are only downsizing. Inquiries and comments on social media asked if it meant the end of a police presence in the city centre. The answer says the force is no.

Contracts have been exchanged to sell Bath Police Station to the University of Bath and some adjoining land to Bath and North East Somerset Council (BaNES). Custody has already moved to the new Police Centre at Keynsham. A new enquiry office will be co-located with BaNES at the One Stop Shop on Manvers Street, and a new base for the police response and neighbourhood teams positioned on the outskirts of the city centre. Timings for the moves have not yet been confirmed. These moves to save money by sharing office space with local government and to save or make money on estates generally are mirrored in the rest of Avon and Somerset and indeed nationally.

Chief Superintendent Caroline Peters, the new Area Commander, said: “We understand the importance and are very committed to keeping a police presence in Bath. Co-locating our enquiry office, and hopefully the city centre team, with the council will bring police and council services together in one place, making it easier for the public. Discussions for a new base for our neighbourhood and response teams are progressing but we have a great deal of work to do to finalise future arrangements.”

And Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mounstevens said: “As custody is moving from Bath Police Station, it no longer makes sense to keep a station whose site is very valuable and only partly used. We are delighted to sell the station and land to the University of Bath and Bath & North East Somerset Council.

“As with every police station sale we are always looking to get the best deal for local taxpayers. I have been clear that our estate plan is about allowing us to invest in people rather than continuing with under-utilised and oversized police buildings. We are committed to working with Bath & North East Somerset Council and remain firmly committed to the city. Through new initiatives like the co-location with the council the police will be even closer to local people in the city centre.”

Meanwhile Suffolk Police says that it’s faced with achieving savings and efficiencies of £16.4m by 2018. This is a reduction of 13.2pc over four years. Almost £10m of the savings required have been identified, which will be achieved over the next two years. This will leave a deficit of just over £6.7m to be found between 2016 and 2018.

Savings will be achieved through continued collaboration with partners and neighbouring Norfolk Police; and cuts including in officer numbers, as Suffolk says it’s spending 87pc of its budget on people and the remaining 13pc on non-pay cost.

Chief Constable Douglas Paxton said: “There is no doubt that this is a challenging time for policing nationally. Locally we are ready to take on this challenge and make significant changes to ensure our communities continue to receive the policing services they need.

“This will be a time for us to review the entire Constabulary and take the opportunity to do things differently. We are working from a good position, as a strong police force with a history of performing extremely well, but we are already a low cost force, providing good value for money for our communities.

“Our change programme will result in a significant re-modelling of our organisation, its staffing levels and the way in which we conduct our business, so our latest plans necessarily have to involve reductions in officer and staff numbers.

“Working with our partners will be crucial as these plans progress. Our collaboration with Norfolk Police has been hugely successful and we remain committed to this partnership. We will now be looking for further collaborative opportunities within Suffolk, to find ways of sharing expertise and resources to keep our communities safe.”

Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “Police forces across the country are having to make difficult decisions as they endeavour to deliver an efficient and effective police service with less funding, Suffolk is no different.

“The Chief Constable has presented a range of options to plug the funding gap and I am reassured that we will be able to meet this financial challenge and continue to keep the county safe, but one thing is clear – Suffolk Constabulary will have to change. There will be fewer staff and fewer police officers in Suffolk; we just can’t afford to keep officer numbers at the current level.

“The reduction in police officer numbers will be met though natural turnover combined with the on-going recruitment freeze. Although there will be fewer officers overall, local policing will continue to be built on the foundations of safer neighbourhood policing, which is the cornerstone of how we do business.

“I am confident we can create efficiencies. We have made a good start on pooling public sector resources in Suffolk, especially in our estate. There is considerable scope to expand this work and in other areas such as public access, community safety and blue light integration.”

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