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Police numbers
In recent years there has been a significant investment in policing. At the end of March 2010 there were just over 143,000 police officers in England and Wales compared with just under 126,000 in 1997. During the same period there has been an even bigger increase in the number of police staff from 52,588 in 2000 to 95,802 in 2009. That total includes just over 16,800 Community Support Officers.
These numbers are under serious threat. The government stated in their emergency budget that government departments would face average budget cuts of 25% with health and aid spending being ring fenced and defence and education limited to between 10% and 20%.
Subsequently it was revealed that departments had been warned to prepare for cuts of 40%. Tim Brain (former ACPO lead on finance) in a recent article predicted a loss of 36,000 officers at 25% cuts and 58,000 at 40% cuts. In another recent article, CC Julie Spence stated that cuts of 25% are "just not achievable if you want any semblance of a police service."
As you know the restrictions on overtime we currently have in place in force are causing problems – please continue to feed them in to us via federat@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk and given the freeze on recruitment it is not likely to get any easier.
And don’t forget you can find vital information on your rights and entitlements in these trying economic times at http://www.nypolfed.org.uk/police-and-federation-news/police-news/financial-climate-your-rights-and-entitlements.
