Too many police chiefs? - A review of police strength and costs in England & Wales 2010

The time has surely arrived for a public debate on the future size and role of the police. Now more than ever we need a public debate about priorities and choices about the sensible use of police resources.

Earlier this year, before the change of government, the Home Office under Alan Johnson from Labour, announced that it had a plan to cut overtime by £70m a year.

With Theresa May appointed the new home secretary in the new coalition Liberal Conservative Government, a Home Office spokesman has said the department would work with her to establish her priorities and "how best to implement government policy".

Recent media reports state that police spending grew in real terms from £9.8bn in 1999 to £14.5bn in 2009, however, the HMIC website puts the spending figure at £13.5 Billion. By far the major portion of the increased spending - just over 75% - has gone on staffing, with rising numbers across the different staff sectors. In 2009 there were a record 142,151 police officers - an increase of 15,337 since 1998.

Right balance?

It is clear from the numbers and financials revealed on these pages, that the proportionate growth in civilian staff, including police community support officers, has outstripped that of police officers.

Central government under Nu Labour favoured increased recruitment of police officers, but at the same time civilian staff have grown even more. When chief constables query the value of police officer recruitment, how can we be sure about the right balance of spending on employees? Will politicians' pledges to protect the 'front line' mean cuts in the back office functions?"

The true value of each and every “back office” function, along with those of the senior and middle management of the police needs thorough and in depth transparent scrutiny, if their roles are to continue.

Overtime

The recent report by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) criticised the growing police overtime bill as "counter intuitive" because more staff should mean workers are less stretched, and therefore not required to work as many extra hours. We would argue that until vast numbers of the office based police personnel and police staff are redeployed onto the street, reducing the pressure on frontline policing, the overtime budget should be ring fenced.

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