VOTE: Tough times ahead for Humberside Police as funding is slashed

EFFECTIVE and efficient – two words resonating through the corridors of power at Humberside Police.

Private firms took the brunt at the start of the recession. Now, the new coalition Government is slashing public sector budgets and police forces, including Humberside, are not exempt.

Already, the force has been told to expect £2 million less this year from central government – a move which has seen overtime cut by about five per cent and renovation projects delayed.

Only recently, financial powerhouse Deloitte Consulting – more associated with scrutinising Premier League football clubs' accounts – reviewed Humberside's budget, and three other Yorkshire forces, to see what could be saved through collaboration.

Deloitte conducted an eight-week study, pocketed £300,000, and told the four forces £96 million could be saved.

However, despite support from the Police Authority, a senior financial source within the force dismissed it as "pie in the sky".

He said that while, on paper, stripping £96 million might appear easy, the practicalities of achieving the "headline-grabbing" figure would be much harder.

As Britain's economic crisis shows little signs of abating, Humberside Police is already introducing plans to get its finances in order, before Westminster orders more cuts from its £186 million budget.

Two years ago, with the backing of the Police Authority, the force examined how to reduce eight per cent – about £15 million – from its budget, meaning £3 million of "permanent" savings would have to be made every year for five years under the Choices Project.

Chief Inspector Mark Johansson has recently been given the role of project manager, although he is a victim of the Choices Project himself.

He was an acting superintendent until the Choices axe was wielded on Humberside's command structure and the temporary roles, which brought with them a financial benefit, were removed.

"We are around a third of the way through the review, which is a complete forensic examination of the entire police force", he said.

"I disagree with the assessment that this is an exercise in cost cutting, we are looking at how we can better spend the public's money."

With 36 individual reviews covering everything from marketing and media, roads and neighbourhood policing to murder investigation being undertaken by next summer, it seems no department is safe from the "efficiency savings" axe.

However, a recurring theme is a pledge that frontline policing will not be affected.

"The public will see at least as good a service, if not an improved level of service, from Humberside Police as a result of the Choices Project, " said Inspector Johansson.

"It is about being effective and efficient.

"The people across the region will not suffer in the delivery of the service we provide, that is something I am certain of.

"The purpose of the Choices Project is to look at how we can deliver, at the very least, the same service to the people across the region while reducing the cost.

"In fact, I believe the public will see a better service as a result of this.

"We have been through the boom years, but just like other public sector organisations and private companies, we are having to look in detail at how we do things.

"We have been in a period of growth for the past decade or more, but that has changed."

The project has not only led to cuts, such as the scrapping of the Special Constabulary's bounty, saving almost £400,000, but several jobs in human resources and support roles have been deemed dispensable.

This saw 780 civilian staff members offered redundancy in an attempt to take them off the force's payroll, which amounts to more than 80 per cent of the force's budget.

Looking forward, there is a worry that the reviews may not be sufficient – generally the Choices Project has led to the force reshuffling resources rather than wholesale cuts, but it may not be enough.

There has been talk nationally that the Home Office budget, which ultimately dictates what money is spent on policing across the country, may be cut by 25 per cent.

The knock-on effect may be very similar and the £96 million that Deloitte picked out may not seem so ridiculous.

But Inspector Johansson insists the Choices Project has put the force in a position to be able to handle any drastic cuts.

"We know to a point what is coming, we know there are to be cuts in public sector finance, but we just don't know what exactly they're going to be.

"This project means we are ahead of the game.

"There is not a single area of policing which we are not looking at in detail."

And if it is not known if cutting £15 million is going to be sufficient, it is a good thing that every single review contains a "doomsday" scenario, thus giving the force a blueprint of what needs to go if the cuts are deeper than expected.

"The reviewing officer is given a brief to look at the best and worst case scenarios – they are expected to consider everything from doing nothing to most extreme solutions," said Inspector Johansson.

"They are asked to look at the widest range of options.

"They must also detail the ramifications every decision would have on the particular area of policing."

So, as the force enters a lean period, are we the public going to suffer?

According to government statistics, we live in a safer region than ever before, crime is down and policing works.

If this is the case, and Humberside has pulled itself from the bottom of the national rankings tables, then it is only right that the focus is now on doing things more efficiently.

The downfall will be if we find ourselves in a position where the force is no longer effective.