Pledge over future of police stations

AVON and Somerset Constabulary said it has no plans to close any police stations without opening another nearby. The pledge came after the force advertised a contract to help it sell £7.5 million of property and reduce its footprint by 15 per cent by 2022.

Its current building running costs are more than £20 million a year and it wants to cut that bill by £500,000 due to the current financial climate.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh said in a strategy document he would “rather invest in frontline officers than continue to run outdated and expensive buildings”.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said: “The way that we deliver police services has changed over time.

“Our officers are equipped with laptops and phones which enables them to complete paperwork on the go and in the in the community creating less need to return to a station.

“We have a number of over-sized and expensive buildings which no longer meet our requirements. It is prudent to reduce our estate footprint in line with these changes.

“Historically, in almost all cases, police stations that have been closed have been directly replaced by alternative accommodation in smaller, fit-for-purpose new premises.

“This trend means that since 2010 our total number of police stations has reduced by just one, to 41. We have no plans to close police stations and not reopen another police station in the same geographical area.”

Property owned by the force is currently worth around £215 million, covering 102,424 square metre. It wants to sell off £7.5 million of property and reinvest the proceeds in areas of growth including new premises, IT infrastructure and digitalisation.

The strategy of selling off property was laid out in a force document called “Making best use of our Estate, 2016 - 2020”.

In it, police and crime commissioner Sue Mountstevens said: “One area where there are considerable savings to be found, without compromising on frontline policing, is from the police estate. Many of the police stations are oversized and underutilised, costing considerable investment to ensure the buildings and facilities are compliant.

“Where this is the case, capital can be raised from the sale of these outdated and unsuitable stations and reinvested in local policing.

“The reduced running costs from moving to a smaller estate also help in generating savings as well as ensuring we have a sustainable policing service that is as effective and efficient as local people want and expect.”

Mr Marsh added: “Like [Ms Mounstevens], I would rather invest in frontline officers than continue to run outdated and expensive buildings.”