Staff job cuts as police force faces £8m shortfall

The force has already made savings but faces an £8m budget gap

Staff posts are to be cut at West Mercia Police as the force tackles an £8m budget gap, even though redundancies have already been made.

The police force for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire has not confirmed to the BBC how many posts will go but has said the shortfall must be addressed.

Police and crime commissioner (PCC) John Campion said there were issues about the distribution of police funds that had not been fixed by current or previous governments, an "unfairness" he had raised on several occasions.

The BBC has approached the Home Office for a response.

Chief constable Richard Cooper said: "The difficult decision we have made, to make further police staff redundancies, is certainly not something we would choose to be doing."

He said protecting people from harm remained the force's priority and it stood by its neighbourhood policing commitment.

'Action is being taken'

The force had already made "significant savings" by cutting police staff, which are non-officer posts, but additional savings needed to be found, which included a further reduction in police staff roles, he said.

The force said it had continued to face challenges because of government funding not keeping pace with inflation and a growing demand on services.

It also revealed the cost of the workforce this year had been underestimated, because of the number of officers reaching higher pay points, and its officer cost was "higher than was budgeted for".

The PCC said: "I want to reassure our communities that action is being taken to address these issues and ensure that the force is able to continue delivering an efficient and effective service and keep communities safe."

Criticising how the government distributed funds to police, he said the force also faced growing mandates from government dictating how money should be spent.

He and the chief constable were making best use of all resources, but it was "not enough", he said.