OFFICERS could struggle to cope with the demands placed on them once cuts to \u2018every department\u2019 at South Yorkshire Police are imposed.<\/p>\n
Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales have been told to expect \u2018standstill\u2019 budgets only as the Government tries to plug the hole in the country\u2019s finances as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
And South Yorkshire PCC Dr Alan Billings has said it is likely to affect every department on the force.<\/p>\n
Whitehall has pledged it will not be returning to the previous administration’s self-imposed decade of austerity.<\/p>\n
However, what is essentially a cut in funding could have serious implications for the county\u2019s officers, according to South Yorkshire Police Federation.<\/p>\n
Chairman Steve Kent said: \u201cWhat\u2019s difficult from our perspective as a force is that we\u2019re one of the poorer forces in the country in terms of the council tax precept we receive as opposed to some southern forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s a challenge for us to try and make these ends meet and I sympathise with the force to be put in that position.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is that the end net result of that will be that overtime will go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn one sense that\u2019s a good thing because it means officers are properly rested, but in another sense, it puts a strain on the officers who are left with fewer resources to deal with what the overtime budgets were there to plug the gaps for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m concerned about this intermediate period where the extra officers haven\u2019t landed yet, and they\u2019re not embedded, whereas we\u2019re still at the same numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil those cops are bedded in we\u2019re going to struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n