North Yorkshire Police job vacancies to go unfilled to save money

The number of uniformed officers would rise under the budget plans

North Yorkshire's police commissioner is planning to leave more than 120 vacant posts empty in a bid to balance the force's budget.

The vacancies comprise 74 backroom staff and 50 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), which will save £3.2m if left unfilled.

A report to local councillors says the force has to save £8.2m in 2023/2024.

Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe is also asking for a 4.99% rise in the amount paid for policing from council tax.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the proposed rise would see a Band D household paying £14.03 more a year.

Ms Metcalfe states in the report: "I have been clear with the force that in asking the public of North Yorkshire to pay more they should expect more from their police service."

She said the chief constable had indicated that a review would take place to restructure the organisation "to deliver the best possible front line and visible policing services within the new future budget constraints".

PCC Zoe Metcalfe says the proposed rise would pay for improvements in emergency call handling

The proposed tax rise would go towards improving 999 and 101 call handling times, with the report saying: "North Yorkshire Police have a significantly smaller workforce in the control room than other comparable forces".

The report says due to the labour market crisis, some 50 PCSO "have been unable to be filled despite recruitment efforts", and will remain unfilled this year to save £2m, particularly as the force already employs the highest proportion of PCSOs compared to other staff in England.

To cut costs by another £1.2m it is proposed the force will allow non-officer staff vacancies to rise from 50 to 74.

However, £1.5m is to be spent boosting the number of uniformed officers by 25 to a total of 1,645.

The report will be discussed next week.