Lancashire police must make £4million of savings (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Lancashire police must make £4million of savings

2:10am Wednesday 10th February 2010 in

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LANCASHIRE’s police force will have to make £4million of savings in the next financial year as it bids to balance its books.

Ahead of tomorrow’s full police authority meeting, which will set the police portion of council tax to increase by no more than three per cent, a budget briefing outlined how the force will make efficiency savings over the next five years.

For the financial year 2010-11, the increase to the taxpayer will be an extra £4.26 a year for an average Band D property.

However, to keep the increase down, the constabulary and the police authority have been identifying ways of cutting budgets in a series of reviews under the ‘Sustaining Excellence’ programme. David Brindle, director of resources for Lancashire Constabulary, told the Lancashire Telegraph that the majority of the £4million savings would be made in ‘back office’ cuts.

He said: “We do not accept that it is inevitable that if we take money out, services will be reduced.

"Every review is looking at whether we can take money out, but still maintain the level of service delivery.

"It is a big ask and a tough challenge. We are confident we can do that, but only time will tell.”

During the next 12 months, there will be a slight reduction in police staff numbers, but Mr Brindle said the current recruitment freeze on police officers could be lifted by the summer.

A shift review has already been completed, which will get more officers on the frontline at key times.

Other departments under scrutiny include the Force Major Incident Team (FMIT), forensics, custody, road policing, undercover policing and IT.

Chief Constable Steve Finnigan has set the force a challenge to save £10million in ‘cashable’ efficiency savings by the end of 2010/11.

Longer term, the constabulary will be looking into sharing services, such as communications, with neighbouring forces as it prepares for a ‘challenging’ next few years.