MERSEYSIDE will shed 800 police officers from its ranks after a huge budget cut due to be announced today.
The force is expecting to be told it has to shed £53m from its funds over the next four years.
The move will also see 1,000 civilian police staff made redundant over that period. But a police leader today warned of dire consequences if the force is asked to save more than £53m.
After October’s comprehensive spending review, it estimated it will lose between 16% and 20% of its grant, which means cuts of £59m could be needed.
The force is already pushing through savings totalling around £14m.
On Thursday, Merseyside Police Authority is set to rubber-stamp six new measures, including slashing the force’s cold case unit by half, saving just over £200,000.
The Serious Case Review Unit (SCRU) – similar to the team featured in TV drama New Tricks – re-opens case files on unsolved murders and rapes. If the plans go through, three staff in the 13-strong team will be made redundant. Another three will go once the current cold cases have been re-assessed and prioritised.
The police authority – which holds the force’s purse strings – is also set to limit the number of outings the Police Band has to 10 per year. The move would save £13,220.
Authority members will also be asked to limit the number of conferences the force attends, introduce “paperless administration”, more efficient procurement and making a Police Federation representative a civilian instead of a warranted officer.
These latest savings would plug another £1.6m in the budget. Speaking about the cut to the SCRU, police authority chair Cllr Bill Weightman said: “I think what the unit has been able to do is get the force back on track with serious case reviews and what we have been advised by the Chief Constable is that the force can now deal with these internally.
