The head of West Midlands Police has told MPs that big cities like Birmingham have been hit by an unfair share of cuts in police funding, as he explained why 2,250 posts would have to go.
Chris Sims, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, said he needed to save £125 million a year, which meant forcing officers to retire after 30 years service and freezing recruitment of new staff.
But some shire counties had not suffered the same level of cuts, he said.
Mr Sims told MPs: “There is a need for fundamental reform for funding of police.”
The Chief Constable was speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, as part of an inquiry into police finances.
He was quizzed by MPs from across the country including Steve McCabe (Lab Selly Oak), David Winnick (Lab Walsall North) and Aiden Burley (Con Cannock Chase), following the Government’s announcement last month that basic grants for every police force will be cut by 5.1 per cent in 2011/12 and 6.7 per cent in 2012/13.
In practice, this hits some forces harder than others because they are far more dependent on Treasury funding. Police forces in wealthier parts of the country tend to raise more of their budgets from council tax precepts, which are unlikely to be cut.
Mr Sims told MPs: “What you are seeing is not an even set of cuts operating across the police service but a very different set of impacts across different forces. West Midlands is very much at the top end.”
By contrast, he said, forces such as Surrey were suffering much smaller cuts.
“We get our funding from two sources. Grants from the Home Office and taxation raised locally.
“We get 87 per cent of our money as grant, we raise 13 per cent of it as local taxation., In some forces that ratio is nearly 50/50.”
The West Midlands had also lost £27 million in Treasury funding because of the way grants were calculated, he said.
Mr Sims told MPs: “I absolutely believe we can continue to provide the service and protection our communities need, but in taking out some 2,250 posts, as I will have to, that does mean the way the service is presented will be different.”
About 1000 police officer posts and 1,200 or so civilian staff posts would be lost, he said.
The inquiry also heard from Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, who warned that cutting police numbers in any force could lead to a rise in crime.
“There are a number of factors involved in crime going up and crime going down. However I think anybody would say that police officer numbers have to have some effect.
“You only have to look at New York to see that while police officer numbers have started to fall over the past year or two, crime is going up in New York.”