250 jobs set to go at South Yorkshire police

More jobs are to go at South Yorkshire Police, but Hallam's been told the public shouldn't notice a difference. 250 positions have been earmarked for retirement or voluntary redundancy. Most will be backroom staff, but around sixteen posts will be taken from the frontline. Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings says he's determined to keep officers where they're needed though: "To point to some distrubring features in Sheffield and Mexborough - some incidents with firearms - we do need those officers to be available. "I am absolutely determined that we will put the resources in there so that people can be reassured about that. "The posts that are taken out...are mainly people who work in the so-called back office. Very important work that they do so they are serious issues - but they're not frontline in the sense of officers out on the street.

"Many have gone already because of the voluntary enhanced redundancy scheme and others can be managed when people retire or leave for other jobs. It's not as if we're having another round of redundancies, that's not we have in mind at all." Despite making savings, the force needs to plug a funding gap of more than £10m. Dr Billings says there is no provision in the budget for increased costs: "We're getting the same amount of cash in the next financial year as this financial year, but there's no provision there for inflation. "That's any increased costs through wages and salaries and all the other pressures that come upon us. And nothing for the costs of things like the big child sexual exploitation investigation that's going, or for the Hillsborough Inquests costs."

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