Chief constables consider asking for police officer redundancy

POLICE chiefs “are considering whether they reluctantly ask the Home Secretary to introduce compulsory redundancy as an option to manage significant further cuts to the service.”

A spokeswoman for the National Police Chief’s Council said: “Police chiefs are thinking carefully about how we can continue to provide policing services to the public if there are further significant cuts to the policing grant in the Government Spending Review.”

She added: “As part of this, chiefs will decide [in October] whether we should reluctantly ask the Home Secretary to introduce compulsory redundancy as an option for chiefs and Police and Crime Commissioners.”

This is not the first time the body representing chief officers has wanted to introduce police officer redundancy.

In 2013 they held a similar stance before the idea was rejected by the Police Arbitration Tribunal. A spokeswoman for ACPO said at the time “chiefs recognised the strength of feeling among police officers about compulsory severance” and that it “would be a matter of extreme last resort”.

Steve White, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Compulsory severance is incompatible with the ability of police officers to do their job independently and we will fight it all the way.

“Giving forces the ability to make officers redundant introduces the possibility for undue pressure to be brought to bear should officers be involved in a politically-sensitive investigation. We don’t accept this is a sensible route to pursue and we believe the public will not accept it either.

“Chief constables have been put in an impossible position but they shouldn’t be giving the Government a get out of jail free card by saying they are going to sack the very officers who have managed so well to deliver the service they have over the last four years.

“What this suggestion does do is bring into sharp relief the choice facing this government: sack police officers or keep on board an outmoded and out of date 43-force structure which is now demonstrably obstructing the ability of officers to keep people safe independently without fear or favour.”