Police spend £300k in search for savings
Police bosses in Staffordshire are to spend almost £300,000 asking external auditors to help them cut their middle and back office functions – weeks after announcing a £480,000 deal with KPMG to advise on additional savings.
Police bosses in Staffordshire are to spend almost £300,000 asking external auditors to help them cut their middle and back office functions – weeks after announcing a £480,000 deal with KPMG to advise on additional savings.
As a result of the original £480,000 cost-cutting deal, Staffordshire Police has instructed officers to make fewer arrests, deal with more reported crime on the phone, and attend fewer incidents classed as non-priority.
Now the force will spend up to £295,000, again hiring KPMG, to target "middle office" functions including forensics, intelligence and admin. It is part of a 12-week review to help the force become more efficient and protect front-line policing.
The force needs to make cuts of £38million over four years.
Up to 285 staff posts will become unaffordable by 2014/15 and officers will need to cover the roles, according to papers set to go to the next Staffordshire Police authority meeting.
Douglas Paxton, deputy chief constable at Staffordshire Police, said: "Paying for external consultants needs to be fully justified, but these are extraordinary times and it is becoming more difficult to balance cost reduction with excellent service.
"Using tried and tested techniques which have a proven track record of success and highly cost effective delivery, compares very favourably with the risks of allowing the establishment to shrink further without a reliable plan for redesign."
He said that so far, work by consultants had focused on front-line services and that the process was demonstrating "great productivity" savings.
"This next phase of consultancy work will focus on transforming processes in operational support functions."
The plan to bring in KPMG for the second phase is due to be approved by Staffordshire Police Authority on Wednesday. Auditors recommended a radical shake-up of policing in the county when they concluded an initial review earlier this year, and changes have already been rolled out in areas of Stoke-on-Trent.
Bosses are encouraging officers to consider "alternatives to arrest". Changes will be rolled out in South Staffordshire from January. Other changes include police officers dealing with crimes considered less serious over the telephone.
After being piloted in areas of Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and the Moorlands the new approach will 'go live' in South Staffordshire, Cannock and Lichfield from January 30.
Other options include street bail – where a suspect is arrested and bailed to appear later at a police station – or penalty notices.
