G4S to cut staff delivering Lincolnshire Police services

G4S said new roles are being created to mitigate the total number of roles affected

Staff who transferred from Lincolnshire Police to security firm G4S in a cost-saving deal have been put at risk of redundancy.

G4S said that of the 580 civilian staff which transferred, approximately 60 posts are at risk.

The firm said the "modest" job losses are part of efficiency savings it is making for the police authority.

But the union Unison said G4S also has to make a profit, and warned there would be more job losses in future.

Peter Savage, regional organiser for Unison, said: "The whole point about G4S taking over is to save money and on top of saving money G4S, unlike the police, have to make a profit.

"Maintaining a profit is not a burden that was on the police force when they maintained the services in-house."

'Travel to jobs'

Mr Savage said 20 new roles are being created, meaning the net loss of roles will be about 40.

"Now, that doesn't mean that all of those 20 new jobs can be filled by some of the people facing redundancy," he said.

"Because some services are being concentrated on one site as oppose to spread around the county we expect some people will not be able to travel to those new jobs anyway.

"So, it's a bit difficult to tell the actual number of redundancies as such but there will be 40 less jobs on the present proposals."

The ten-year contract between Lincolnshire Police Authority and G4S took effect from 1 April.

The staff who transferred represent about two-thirds of the total civilian staff employed by the police authority.

Similar cost-saving deals are being considered elsewhere, and 38 police forces and authorities attended a seminar on 17 April, where G4S and Lincolnshire Police discussed their partnership.

'Explore alternatives'

These included neighbouring Nottinghamshire Police, Leicestershire Police and South Yorkshire Police.

A spokeswoman for G4S said of the deal in Lincolnshire: "In the first two months of delivery we have already delivered savings of around 14% on running costs.

"However, a modest number of redundancies from the 580 staff who transferred over to G4S was always planned as part of the restructuring process."

She explained G4S has started a process of consultation with union representatives and staff that is due to end in July.

"Approximately 60 roles are at risk, however new roles are being created within our business which should mitigate the total number of roles affected," the spokeswoman said.

"We also intend to help any affected employees to explore alternative roles within G4S."