Police forces in England and Wales could face a combined budget shortfall of  more than £700m by 2026, warns UNISON 

An analysis of police financial forecasts has revealed forces in England and Wales could face a combined budget shortfall of almost £721m by 2026, potentially putting public safety at risk, says UNISON today (Friday). The data, based on medium-term financial plans submitted by individual police forces to their local police and crime panels, reveals drastic cuts to the spending planned. The worst affected is the Metropolitan Police (£282m), followed by West Midlands (£34m) and Kent (£31m). Together the three forces will have a combined budget deficit of £347m by 2026. While forecasts aren’t set in stone, police budgets look likely to be several hundred million pounds short of what’s needed, says UNISON. As a result, tackling and preventing crimes such as anti-social behaviour, burglaries, violent assaults, organised crime and fraud could be compromised, says the union. Many vital staff roles are already being kept vacant or have been cut altogether to save money, adds UNISON. Cutting police staff jobs will also severely undermine the government’s pledge to put more police on the streets, UNISON warns. This is because newly recruited officers will need to do the work once done by police staff whose jobs have now been cut, the union says. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Without more funding to plug these huge budget shortfalls, public confidence in the police will continue to fall. “With fewer police staff to investigate cases and sma...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: News Press release Christina McAnea police and justice Source Type: news