Long-service rules see nearly 50 police leave

Almost 50 officers have left Staffordshire Police since controversial regulations to force officers with 30 years experience to retire were introduced – and another 34 could be set to follow.

The new A19 regulations were introduced at the end of November 2011 – and figures show 49 officers have left the force since then.

Police bosses insist that the majority are voluntarily retirements. A further 34 officers are now eligible, between now and March 2013, when the scheme faces review.

The regulations mean officers who have notched up at least 30 years pensionable service can be made to retire even if they want to stay on.

It comes as bosses at Staffordshire Police battle to save £34 million by April 2015 – with 86 per cent of its budget spent on staff costs.

Deputy Chief Constable Douglas Paxton said: "It is unavoidable that the organisation has to operate with fewer people.

"Over the last two years we have been working very hard to restructure the force and transform services while protecting service delivery to our communities.

"We are well on our way to making these savings and have already reduced significantly the number of people in the organisation.

"We have done this through natural turnover, A19, a recruitment freeze, early retirement and voluntary redundancies which have been funded during this period through a reserve fund, set aside for this purpose."

As of the end of July this year, there were 1,907 officers employed at Staffordshire Police.

Mike Cunningham, chief constable of the force, added: "Regulation A19 will remain in place until March 31, 2013. It will then be reviewed. At present, 49 officers have left Staffordshire Police following the introduction of regulation A19.

"It is important to point out that the majority of officers with 30 years service retire voluntarily."