WEST Mercia Police has hit back against a claim by a former chief inspector that proposed cuts to its budget will mean less officers on the beat.
In January, the area’s Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion and Chief Constable Richard Cooper said that job cuts might be needed due to a number of financial challenges including a £4.2m National Insurance bill.
To support this, the force is introducing two voluntary schemes to minimise the need for further compulsory redundancies this year.
However, Sharon Gibbons, a Pershore town councillor who stood for the Liberal Democrats at this year’s local elections has taken aim at the claim that no police officers are being cut.
“That’s deeply misleading. Police officers can’t be made redundant under law so forces quietly cut numbers by not recruiting for vacant posts. It’s a stealth cut that the public feels in slower response times and reduced presence,” she said.
She has also taken aim at the decision to stop Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) operating after 8pm. “Our PCSOs are doing an outstanding job with very limited resources,” Councilor Gibbons added.
She said the real-world impact is already visible in communities in and around Pershore, where just four PCSOs are expected to cover the town and a number of surrounding villages.
In response to police officer numbers, a spokesperson for the force said that police officer numbers are being maintained, there was no ‘reduction by stealth’.
Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing, Grant Wills, added: “We have a proposal which suggests that PCSOs end their shifts at 8pm instead of the current 10pm, which would see a reduction in unsocial hours payments and would be a way of contributing to necessary savings without removing posts.
“We have considered the key times when PCSOs can be most effective and visible for our communities and have consulted with our PCSOs and to seek their views on this proposal.
“Over the last 12 months we have invested significantly in Neighbourhood Policing with, amongst other things, the introduction of 10 new town centre teams focused on visible policing, tackling crime, and reducing anti-social behaviour.
“It is also important to note that neighbourhood patrols are carried out 24/7/365 by officers, in addition to PCSO patrols.”
West Mercia Police’s funding will be up to £316.3m in 2025 to 26, an increase of £18 million compared to the year 2024 to 2025.”
