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Police forces facing tough budget cuts should have the capacity to make officers redundant, the Commons has heard.
Conservative MP Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood) warned that cuts would fall "disproportionately" on "cheaper" civilian staff in support roles, such as police community support officers (PCSOs) or control room operators.
Presenting a bill under the ten minute rule motion, Reckless said regular police officers, who cannot be made redundant as they are servants of the Crown, would then be forced to move from the streets to the office to replace them.
The Rochester and Strood MP told the Commons that police forces should be given the freedom to decide who to make redundant.
Introducing his Police Terms and Conditions of Service (Redundancy) Bill, he said that because "no-one employs the police, no-one can make them redundant".
"A police officer is appointed subject to two years' probation - but after that, unless they're found guilty of gross misconduct, their appointment as a police officer simply continues until they retire, generally after 30 years.
"It makes France look like a flexible labour market."
He added: "So how can we make these cuts in police budgets? The answer is that cuts will be concentrated on cheaper civilians."
Chancellor George Osborne had earlier announced tp Parliament that police spending will fall by 4 per cent over the next four years.
On average, police forces are made up of 60 per cent police officers and 40 per cent civilians, he said.
"But as police forces have set out projected plans for reductions, they've had no choice but to target the civilian staff disproportionately."
Reckless added that unless the law is changed, there is the risk of forcing officers off of the streets and back into administrative roles which are now done by police staff.
He said this would be as police authorities are allowed to make their civilian employees redundant, but let them pay police officers until they retire -"whether or not they're needed and irrespective of performance".
Reckless said there were regulations in place for redundancy if an officer had worked more than 30 years or if they were "permanently disabled for the performance of their duty".
But he added: "If we are to require police forces and authorities to make significant savings, then we should allow them to do that in a way which makes most sense for local policing.
"We should certainly not force them to do it by targeting civilians, targeting the old and targeting the disabled."
The Bill was given an unopposed first reading, but without government support it stands little chance of becoming law.
Article Comments
I am a serving police officer and personally I welcome any attempt to make officers redundant. If the government target officers with 20 years service and make a reasonable offer of redundancy with a condition for example that the officer waives their right to the pension they would save millions. The redundancy offer would have to reflect this sacrifice but the savings would be massive.
P Mitchell
28th Nov 2010 at 1:29 pm
As at present polices officers cannot be made redundant, I wonder if it became law that they can be made redundant would they then have the right to strike! With other services going on strike these days, where would this leave the country?
lucy
27th Oct 2010 at 8:02 pm
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