Policing in crisis as staffing cuts bite

POLICE officers are arresting fewer people and cutting patrols amid signs that they are struggling to deliver an effective service, the National Audit Office claims today.

Whitehall’s spending watchdog also highlights reductions in the percentage of crimes resulting in charges, and cutbacks in tackling drug trafficking and drink-driving.

Publishing its review of forces in England and Wales, the NAO said it had found indications of “stress” in the system. Since 2010, funding and staffing levels had fallen, it said, while police were confronting rising levels of recorded “high harm” crimes and a heightened terror threat. It added that the Home Office’s “light touch” approach meant it did not know if the police system was financially sustainable.

Sir Amyas Morse, the head of the audit office, said: “There are signs that forces are already experiencing financial strain and struggling to deliver effective services to the public.

“If the Home Office does not understand what is going on, it will not be able to direct resources to where they are needed, with the risk that the situation could get worse.”

But as the stark warning was issued, it emerged that police in Yorkshire had been accused of wasting resources after it called on the public to report “non-crime hate”. South Yorkshire police urged people to report “offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing” – even if legal – in a bid to prevent conflict escalating.

Although no police force has failed financially, the NAO report highlighted instances where police were “finding it increasingly difficult to deliver an effective service”, including:

 The time it took to charge an offence increasing from 14 days for the year ending March 2016 to 18 days for the year ending March 2018;

 The proportion of crimes that resulted in a charge or summons falling from 15 per cent in March 2015 to 9 per cent in March 2018;

 The arrest rate dropping to 14 arrests per 1,000 population in 2016-17, down from 17 per 1,000 in 2014-15;

 Police carrying out less “proactive” work, with fewer breathalyser tests, motoring fixed-penalty notices, and convictions for drugs trafficking and possession since 2010;

 Survey data showing the proportion of victims dissatisfied with the police response rising from 29 per cent in the year ending March 2016 to 33 per cent in the year ending March 2018.

The findings will prompt fresh debate over the Government’s approach to police funding and services. Last week, analysis revealed thousands of residential burglaries, vehicle thefts and shoplifting investigations were being closed without a suspect being identified.

Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, has pledged to prioritise police funding in the next spending review. Addressing the Police Superintendents’ Association today, he will commit to ensuring forces are “equipped to deal with the changing crime landscape”.

Dave Thompson, the National Police Chiefs’ Council finance head, said: “While policing continues to provide a good service, today’s National Audit Office report recognises that forces are under increasing strain as they deal with rising crime, demand that is more complex, and an unprecedented terror threat with fewer officers.”

Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs select committee, said: “This is a damning report from the National Audit Office at a time when police forces have had substantial cuts to their budgets and police numbers, and when pat- terns of crime are changing and demand is going up.”

The total police budget for 2018-19 is £12.3billion. Overall funding to forces – a combination of central government grants and council tax – has fallen by 19 per cent in real terms since 2010-11,

according to the NAO. The main way forces managed financial pressure was by reducing the size of the workforce, the report said, citing figures showing falls of 40 per cent in the number of police community support officers and a 15 per cent reduction in the number of police between 2010 and 2018.

In March last year, police held £1.7 billion in “reserves” – cash set aside for specific costs or “exceptional” events. This was down 20 per cent compared with two years earlier.

“While the department assessed that pressure is currently at a manageable level, it identified a number of forces that were high-risk in terms of future resilience,” the watchdog said.

It added that plans to reform the “ineffective” arrangements for allocating police funding were on hold: “We cannot conclude that the Home Office’s oversight of the police system is value for money.”

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Since 2010 we have lost almost 22,000 police officers and of that figure 80 per cent have gone from the front line. Neighbourhood policing has all but vanished and combined with the closure of hundreds of police station front counters, it is not surprising more people are reporting that they rarely see police officers. This is unsustainable.

“The responsibility of any government is to secure the safety of its public – for this government to sleepwalk into this very predictable crisis is shameful.”

However, a Home Office spokesman said: “Our decision to empower locally accountable Police and Crime Commissioners to make decisions using their local expertise does not mean that we do not understand the demands on police forces.

“We remain committed to working closely with police and we delivered a £460million increase in overall police funding in 2018-19, including increased funding for local policing through Council Tax.”