Unite warning over Metropolitan Police staff cuts

13 July 2011

Unite, which represents police staff, has challenged London mayor Boris Johnson to guarantee that the numbers of Metropolitan Police on the streets won't be undermined because more police officers will be deskbound due to swingeing cuts.

Unite is warning that deep cuts to Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) staff jobs, pay and conditions will devastate morale and put a strain on the frontline, as more police will have to backfill the roles previously done by police staff.

Thousands of police staff jobs are due to be cut in the next few years and 1,000 jobs have already gone in the last seven months.

Metropolitan Police management have proposed the removal of premium pay, shift disturbance allowance and numerous other allowances which will leave many Unite members thousands of pounds worse off. In parallel, substantial cuts in police staff numbers will make the working lives of the remaining police staff more strained. These front line employees strive to make London a safer place. Unite has formally written to the MPS pulling out of pay negotiations until the MPS can work constructively with the union.

Unite regional officer, Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, said: “We want Boris Johnson to guarantee that police numbers won't be undermined by police officers sitting behind desks covering for the staff who have been made redundant. Maintaining police officer numbers is not the same as maintaining a police presence on the street.

"The Metropolitan Police Service is cutting jobs when it is clear management have no defined business plan to address how they will provide a world class police service in the face of deep cuts imposed by the Tory-led government. To make matters worse, the Metropolitan Police Service has been given no clear direction from the mayor who has his eye on the re-election campaign."

Unite the union is one of the four independent trade unions recognised for collective bargaining for Metropolitan Police Staff (civilian staff).

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