Yesterday, Thursday 4th November, Police Authority members made decisions on a number of issues which will enable the Force to continue to protect its frontline service during one of the harshest financial climates in decades. Yesterday, Surrey Police issued the following statement:

Quote: "Surrey Police’s priority is to protect the public from harm and to deliver the best possible policing service at a time of ever-increasing demands and fewer resources to tackle that demand. Financial challenges over the past ten years have motivated the Force to take a series of bold steps such as abandoning chasing Government targets to instead focus on common-sense policing to put the Surrey public first. These measures are working, as serious crime is falling and people continue to have the highest confidence in the service Surrey Police provides.

Although individual police force allocations of grant will not be announced until December, it is clear from the Government’s recent Comprehensive Spending Review that hard choices will have to be made. The Chief Constable was challenged last year by the Police Authority to look for radical options to not only prepare the Force for post election cuts but also to strengthen rather than cut the frontline.

Many challenging decisions have been taken already such as 37 per cent cuts in support functions and reorganising the Force to enable £5m cuts to be made in senior posts – both senior officers and police staff. Similarly the Force is moving to share buildings with local councils and others to keep neighbourhood officers locally based, join up services and save money spent on run-down and poorly used buildings. By the end of this year Surrey Police will have recruited an extra 96 officers as a consequence. It is among the few forces - if not the only one - still to be recruiting.

Chief Constable Mark Rowley said: “The work of the past 18 months has put us ahead of the challenges budget cuts present. The public are served by the PCs and PCSOs in their communities, those who respond when they call us for help and the unseen officers and staff tackling drugs and organised crime. Despite the scale of financial challenge, Surrey Police leaders see it as their duty to make the hard decisions to protect the public from the cuts. Fewer managers, less bureaucracy and shared buildings help the Force secure frontline officer numbers and public visibility and Surrey Police is one of the few forces - if not the only one - still to be recruiting.

*gHaving to use a clumsy regulation to force senior officers to retire before they planned is not ideal but the public would expect me to run the Force with fewer bosses to protect the frontline. Unless public service leaders are prepared to be bold the public will suffer.”

The difficult decisions taken by Police Authority members today on issues such as Regulation A19 and beginning the disposal of some police buildings will mean we can continue to prepare for the operational challenges ahead. These vary from tackling anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods to fighting organised crime gangs, resisting the threat from terrorism and policing large-scale events, such as the Olympics. All this at a time when public services are being cut, benefits limited and an increasing likelihood of agitation from rising unemployment and crime.

The Chief Constable told Police Authority members that the easiest way to achieve the financial savings necessary would be to make large cuts in resources but this would just hit the frontline and damage the quality of policing. He said: "The senior leaders of the Force all agree it is our duty to try to absorb as much of the cut as possible without passing the impact directly onto the public."

One of the measures agreed today to make savings, recommended by the Chief Constable, was to invoke Regulation A19 of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987. This means that Inspector rank and above who have reached 30 years service or who are on the 30+ scheme by March next year will be required to retire on the grounds of efficiency of the Force, with some exceptions for operational necessity. A small number of officers had already been briefed by their managers to provide as much notice as possible that Regulation A19 was being recommended, subject to ratification by the Police Authority. A six-month notice period will be given to all of those affected.

Chief Constable Rowley said: "Surrey Police recognises the valuable skills and experience of all of our officers, and the decision to ask the Police Authority to invoke Regulation A19 has been difficult. Using A19 is currently the only option available to police forces to reduce police resources, and invoking it will ultimately save £2.2m."

Police Authority members also supported recommendations to begin disposing of seven old and expensive to run buildings now that better venues in co-located buildings have been found. Police buildings in Ripley, Ash, Sunbury, Lightwater, Frimley and Byfleet will now be put on the market, subject to final approval by the Police Authority at a later date. Lingfield has been given provisional agreement subject to local consultation which is currently ongoing.

Recent surveys have shown that most people support the Force’s approach of putting more constables on the street instead of retaining old and little-used, expensive police buildings, which are often not very accessible to the public. Changing our estate and co-locating local officers in council buildings provides a joined up service to the community and value for money for taxpayers. Closures will not take place until the alternative neighbourhood bases have been implemented.” Unquote