Budget pressures lead to nearly 80 Dorset Police staff losing jobs
Dorset's PCC is calling for better Government funding for the force
Last updated 5th Nov 2024
Nearly 80 people have been voluntarily resigned at Dorset Police following what the PCC has called "discrepancies in force funding across the country".
Budgetary pressures and significant savings needing to be made have been listed as key reasons for the job losses.
The Police & Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, told us high levels of inflation, pay rises, and strict rules on officer numbers have forced Dorset Police to make “difficult decisions”.
He says he’s “relentlessly lobbying” government for more funding as Dorset receives the second lowest amount of central government funding in England and Wales.
Here's the PCC's statement in full:
“As I made clear at the beginning of this year, Dorset Police faces ongoing budgetary pressures and significant savings need to be identified. High levels of inflation and nationally imposed pay rises, alongside strict rules on police officer numbers, are just a few of the pressures being faced.
“Since I became your Police and Crime Commissioner in 2021, I have been relentless in lobbying for a fairer funding deal for Dorset. Funding for police forces consists of a national grant from government and the police precept, which is the element raised through local council tax.
"However, currently, Dorset residents contribute 52% towards the Force’s funding through their council tax, whereas the average in England and Wales is around 35% and in some cases as low as 20%. We receive the second lowest amount of central government funding in England and Wales, with the current formula making no account of the huge influx of tourists to Dorset, nor the rurality of much of our county.
“The unfairness of the outdated funding model is widely recognised and policing bodies continue to actively campaign and raise awareness of this issue. Disappointingly, there remains little clarity on the timing of plans to review the National Police Funding Formula and, as such, difficult decisions need to be made to balance the Force’s budget.
“It is incredibly frustrating to see the discrepancies in force funding across the country. I will continue to do everything I can to lobby for a funding formula which is fit for purpose and to get Dorset a fair deal. I have urged Dorset’s MPs to help me do the same, not just for all those in the Force who I thank for their dedication and hard work, but for all the people of Dorset.
“I want to be clear; despite these pressures, Dorset Police will continue to deliver for everyone in Dorset, and I will hold the Chief Constable accountable on behalf of the public to ensure the priorities of the Police and Crime Plan continue to make progress.”
Dorset Police have also given us a statement, from Assistant Chief Officer Jo Mosley:
“The Force is performing well, achieving good outcomes for the public and good levels of public confidence. Despite a long history of driving out inefficiencies, a focus on innovation and making savings in non-people related areas, the Force continues to face increasing cost pressures. This includes high levels of inflation over the last two years, which significantly exceed the available increases in funding, and considerable savings are needed. Despite the Police and Crime Commissioner’s decision to raise the council tax precept by the maximum £13, we still need to save around £4.5m this financial year, with considerable further savings required next year.
“In March this year we launched Project Evolve – a programme to improve the service we offer to our communities while also delivering cost efficiencies to ensure we can achieve a balanced budget. While this has made significant progress, and delivered numerous savings against the target, further in-year pressures - and a rising forecast deficit next year – mean that a balanced budget will only be achieved this year and next with a further reduction in salary costs.
“The national Police Uplift Programme allowed us to recruit additional police officers, but also placed a requirement to maintain these numbers. As a result, savings have to be found from other areas of the Force budget, including police staff who support policing and deliver many services alongside warranted officers.
“We are incredibly proud of the work of our police staff, who fulfil a variety of roles from ensuring our vehicles are in working order, answering the phone in response to victims of crime, examining crime scenes, managing detainees within our custody suite, providing a visible presence within communities or keeping the organisation running through supporting departments such as finance, duties management or administration. We will always have a large number of police staff roles, and they will continue to be an important part of our police family delivering to our communities.
“We wrote to our police staff on Monday 2 September to invite applications to a voluntary resignation scheme whereby the employee would be able to apply to exit the organisation with a severance payment. As a result of the scheme, we will be saying goodbye to 78 members of police staff between November 2024 and January 2025, and we’d like to thank them for everything they’ve done to help keep our communities safe.
“We recognise members of the public may have concerns over how this may affect them. Every application was reviewed by a panel against a set criteria before being agreed to proceed to ensure we minimised the impact on our communities and remaining officers and staff.”