Frozen Turkeys
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a politician seeking re-election will find some decisions even tougher as the ballot box approaches.
This is one good reason that many people – and police officers – fear that electing Commissioners to run the police force will not turn out well.
Stephen Otter, the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall police yesterday gave Cornwall Councillors a brutally frank briefing on the budget and how this is impacting on the police force.
And it could get worse – Devon and Cornwall Police are facing the same dilemma over freezing budgets as Cornwall Council. I wonder how different will be the response of elected and appointed members.
We all know that some cuts have to be made. The police themselves said they could cope with 12% while maintaining front line policing and Labour would have accepted this. The coalition hiked it to 20% – one fifth of the budget.
In Devon and Cornwall’s case, this is £49 million over four years.
This means 700 police officers and 500 support posts are going. Some of our neighbourhood police will disappear. The stark choice is keeping the police on the streets or being able to respond to 999 calls as needed.
Now the government is offering a grant of £2.9 million to the police if they freeze their budget.
BUT the grant money to fill the gap is there this year but not next, leaving a black hole in the budget. It also then leaves a lower base budget, so a small increase the year after will bring in less than it would if they had raised the tax this year and inflation will erode it further. By 2015-6, it will mean a £9 million hole.
Instead of losing 700 police officers and 500 support staff, 1000 police and 700 support staff will go .
The numbers of police in Devon and Cornwall would reduce from 3500 to 2500 and anyone who thinks that can be done without affecting policing is either in cloud cuckoo land or a politician facing re-election.
On top of this, with the coalition economic policy in tatters, our economy sliding backwards and the deficit becoming even more difficult to pay off, the government is making noises about another round of cuts.
This is paralleled at Cornwall Council, where the same offer is on the table and the Tories and Lib Dems are falling over each other to claim credit for saving the council tax payer money without admitting that a financial black hole will result. Services for the elderly, the disabled, libraries, bus services, all could be threatened but it won’t happen until after the next election in 2013.
The Police Authority, which is appointed not elected, will be making the decision this year but in future years, it will be up to the Police Commissioner that we elect in November to decide for the police. It’s a scary thought.
At Cornwall Council, it will be up to elected members in February. The Conservatives and Lib Dems have already indicated they will be voting for a freeze. Unless there is new information that it won’t be disastrous for next year’s budget or mean massive hikes in future years, I will vote against. It isn’t an easy decision to make when money is already tight but because of the way the government has set this up, I think it is the right decision. Election year or not.
