Gloucestershire Police announces staff cuts

Gloucestershire Police has announced it will be making staff redundant due to "financial challenges".

Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said as part of the savings the force expects to lose "a number of police staff posts".

Despite the redundancies, Ms Blyth has assured the public that police officer numbers - currently 1,345 - will not be cut.

"You can still expect to see officers out on patrol and should you be victim of a crime, we will still be there for you," she said.

It was announced in September that Gloucestershire Police had a £7m funding gap, but that number has now grown to £12.3m.

The government gave the force an extra £4.5m but it will have to make up the rest through cuts and savings.

As a result, Gloucestershire Police said discussions around cutting police staff have had to be looked at.

Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Ms Blyth said the changing nature of crime in the 21st Century had put a strain on budgets.

"We are seeing a lot more crime online. We are seeing a lot more crime behind closed doors," she said.

"In Gloucestershire, 20% of our crime is domestic abuse, and we are seeing some of that different crime type put increasing pressure on our resources."

Ms Blyth added that the need to upgrade IT systems to meet the demands of the digital age was another expense the force was struggling to meet.

"[All] that together means that Gloucestershire Police, like other police forces, just cannot make the budgets hang together without needing to make further efficiency savings," she said.

"We've no choice but to now enter into a period of collective consultation with Unison to formally discuss redundancy proposals for some police staff posts."

It is not yet clear how many staff members could lose their jobs.

The force said it will first look at "mutually agreed resignation schemes" and letting vacant posts remain empty.

The news follows similar announcements from Avon & Somerset Police and Wiltshire Police.

"Any decision to make a police staff post redundant will be carefully thought through to minimise the impact and to ensure we continue to provide the services the public deserve," Ms Blyth said.

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