A union says it is “disappointed” by a police force’s plans to cut the majority of its community support officers.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last week that Northumbria Police is moving to heavily reduce the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in its ranks. In a major restructure of neighbourhood policing services, bosses say they cannot afford to keep the current number of PCSOs while also pledging to put an extra 134 police officers on the streets.
A total of 136 PCSO roles are set to go, 41 of which are currently vacant, as officials seek to make savings of more than £12m to balance the books – though the force said it would seek to redeploy the at-risk staff to other jobs. The cutbacks will leave just 60 PCSOs spread across the Northumbria patch, which covers Northumberland and the five areas of Tyne and Wear.
Read More: Police boss accused of dodging scrutiny over plan to slash majority of PCSO jobs
Helen Metcalf, regional lead for police and justice at Unison, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Unison is disappointed with the announcement of a reduction in the numbers of PCSO posts within Northumbria Police Force. We are meeting with staff to provide representation and support through this difficult time.
“We will also be meeting with the senior HR team in Northumbria Police to ensure that staff are fully supported through the proposed changes, and that the role of PCSO continues to be valued. Unison has and will continue to campaign to demonstrate the real and human impact of funding cuts to police services.
“The police officer uplift and associated costs, imposed by Government, are proving detrimental to police staff and impacting on the service provided to our communities. We will be seeking a meeting with the PCC to discuss our concerns and how we can continue to highlight central Government funding cuts.”
Last week, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness was accused of dodging public accountability over the job cuts in a formal complaint made by a Newcastle councillor.
Assistant Chief Constable Brad Howe said: “We recognise that any form of change has the potential to impact our people in a number of ways and we will be supporting all of our Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) through this process. As we have previously stated, this includes aiming to redeploy those directly affected into alternative existing roles within the force.
“As part of this, we are speaking with people individually to fully understand the impact this change could have on them and how we can best support them. We will also continue to work closely with trade unions as they too look to support their members at this time.
“We recognise that PCSOs continue to provide an excellent service to the public and they remain highly valued within Northumbria Police.” He added that the force “must change and adapt to new ways of working” and that prioritising putting police officers on the street instead would help “proactively target and disrupt offenders, reduce neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour and protect vulnerable victims”.
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