Community police numbers to be slashed in latest cuts

[Melisandre]

They are using drones to watch us Rebbonk in stead of the police iust like they can do you for speeding from the air.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... drone.html

[dutchman]

Police could charge £5 more Council Tax due to cuts

COVENTRY people could be charged up to £5 more in Council Tax to pay for police cuts.

West Midlands Police escaped the level of cuts feared from chancellor George Osborne’s spending review last month – and has been given government permission to increase their portion of council tax above the previous 2 per cent cap.

It is estimated government funding for next year still amounts to 1.3per cent cut in real terms.

It follows unprecedented cuts to police funding of over 20 per cent which has resulted in over 2000 officer and civilian job losses since 2010.

That led to the region’s Labour MPs including Coventry’s Jim Cunningham and Geoffrey Robinson joining a campaign for ‘fairer funding’ for the West Midlands force – hit twice as hard as better off areas in the south of England.

The so-called ‘precept’ on Council Tax charged by the police can be raised from April to around £5, home secretary Theresa May has confirmed in a letter to police chiefs.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said a final decision had yet to be taken, but the force was already planning to charge the maximum amount – which would raise £3.5million a year.

He has also written to the Home Secretary about funding. There had previously been fears of a further cull of police support officers and other roles from another massive government funding cut up to 2020.

The letter states: “If I am correct and the amount of local police funding is in fact cut, some may portray the Chancellor’s assertion that police funding has been protected as a deception.

“I challenge the Home Office to allay my fears on this crucial matter as soon as possible. I am in the process of planning my budget for next year and need clarity on this pressing matter.”

Full details of the police funding are set to be announced on December 17.

Mr Jamieson still fears funding for counter-terrorism could effectively be cut.

[Melisandre]

Don t we pay enough already I think the government get enough money out of us already I understand its our local council and council charge us tax that pays for these services and I feel government to should pay towards the Fire Sevices after all we get taxed on wages fuel/heating bills social food clothing tobacco petrol furniture plus vat on certain things and then ripped of with cheap tackey goods and clothing I could go on and on who says we the people are rich here whats is left after all those tax s.

[rebbonk]

Once again, we are being robbed blind because those we let run things couldn't in fact run a proverbial in a brewery.

There is an unbelievable amount of waste and duplication in public services, and those that we pay to mange the services are usually not up to the job. It really is time that we adopted a paid by results regime.

[dutchman]

It really is time that we adopted a paid by results regime.

They'd all starve!

[dutchman]

West Midlands PCSOs in jobs reprieve

Hundreds of police community support officers (PCSOs) who faced being axed by the West Midlands force have won a reprieve.

Last month, Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said that the number could fall from 535 to 119 by 2020.

But he has confirmed that no compulsory redundancies will now take place, with cuts being made elsewhere.

Mr Jamieson said the force was "in a better place than before".

Last month, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed in his Spending Review that police budgets in England and Wales would be protected in real terms.

It followed fears they would face significant cuts.

Mr Jamieson said: "To protect PCSOs we are having to continue with efficiencies elsewhere, like the number of buildings we own and rent.

"West Midlands Police's funding is still going down, that is why we are having to continue to cut elsewhere to protect our PCSOs.

"The truth is that the pressures on the police are growing, we are dealing with issues like radicalisation, cyber-crime and child sexual exploitation in greater numbers than before, and our funding is still falling.

"There are still difficult choices to be made in the future."

[dutchman]

Plan for £5 rise in council tax for West Midlands Police



Plans for a £5-a-year rise on the part of council tax that goes to West Midlands Police have been announced.

The policing precept for a Band D property would rise to £111.55 under the proposals; a 4.6% increase.

Police and crime commissioner David Jamieson said cuts in service would be "inevitable" if the precept was frozen.

Mr Jamieson, who is responsible for setting it, said the precept was the "second lowest in the country" and the planned rise was less than 10p a week.

The Labour commissioner has launched his budget consultation for 2016/17, which will run until 29 January.

The planned increase on the precept would allow the force to "maintain its services", Mr Jamieson said.

He said that if frozen, West Midlands Police would lose out on about £3.3m a year, which would have a "significant impact on policing".

"The government have made it clear that to cover their reduction in police funding they expect PCCs to increase council tax precept by the maximum amount," he said.

[rebbonk]

Rather than look at removing the waste within it's always easiest to take money from a captive audience.

[dutchman]

Shopping in town just before Xmas I didn't spot a single policeman, PCSO or even one of those 'city centre wardens' the council employs.

[dutchman]

West Midlands Police cut front line staff by a fifth in a bid to save money

West Midlands Police has been hit by some of the largest staff reductions in England and Wales after losing nearly a fifth of its officers since police cuts began six years ago.

The shock figures were announced by the Home Office last week amid continued concern about the impact of budget reductions on the police.

According to the statistics since cuts began in September 2009 up until September 2015 West Midlands Police’s workforce has reduced from 8,694 to 7,043 - a cut of 1,651 officers.

Between September 2014 and September 2015, 112 front line officers from the region lost their positions.

The number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) has also been slashed.

In the past year alone more than a hundred PCSOs were lost as the numbers dropped from 676 to 570.

David Jamieson, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “These figures show the clear need for a fairer funding deal for the West Midlands.

“Record cuts since 2010 mean that we have 112 fewer officers now than last year.”

Mr Jamieson went on to describe how the force are looking at making savings elsewhere to allow for the recruitment of more officers by April.

He said: “West Midlands Police officers are a credit to the region, and the people of the West Midlands are being let down by a funding formula that punishes us harder here, than almost anywhere else in the country.”

He added: “By taking tough decisions on things like estates and making efficiencies elsewhere we are making progress.

“Nevertheless we are still facing cuts of £2.5million this year and our cuts overall have been at twice the level of some more rural, low crime areas.”

In Warwickshire the number of officers and PCSOs has risen in the past year despite spending cuts.

In September 2014 Warwickshire Police employed 788 officers. This has increased to 855 officers after 67 jobs were created in twelve months.

Only one PCSO was taken on by Warwickshire Police during the same period of time.

Across England and Wales, 19,169 front line roles have been cut in the past six years, taking the number officers nationally down to 125,185 from 144,353.

Headline is misleading, it should read "have already cut front line staff by a fifth".