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Police spend 'to fall by £500m' Police spend 'to fall by £500m'
(about 4 hours later)
Police forces in England and Wales are being told to make annual savings of more than £500m by 2014. Police forces in England and Wales have been told to make annual savings of more than £500m by 2014.
A White Paper on policing says IT and administrative costs can be cut. A government White Paper says forces should pool resources in forensic work and procurement to save cash.
The Home Office document also says officers should patrol the streets alone, rather than in pairs, to make them more accessible to the public. Senior officers have warned against plans to save £70m by cutting "vital" overtime. Ministers insist front-line policing will not be affected.
Senior officers have warned against saving £70m by cutting "vital" overtime. Ministers insist "front-line" policing will not be affected. It comes as a report revealed officers are spending no more time on the beat than they were two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Home Office is expected to accept calls in a report, by former Police Federation chief Jan Berry, on cutting bureaucracy. Former Police Federation chief Jan Berry - who prepared the Home Office-commissioned report - said patrol officers had told her that problems with bureaucracy may have worsened.
She recommends forces should be given more discretion over the way they deal with less serious crime. Many of the 27,000 hand-held computers given to officers to cut down on paperwork were ineffective because they lack the right programs, she said.
A pilot scheme in Surrey, Leicestershire, West Midlands and Staffordshire saw government targets abandoned in favour of a "common sense" approach. ANALYSIS Danny Shaw, home affairs, BBC News
Rather than arresting youths for vandalism or scrawling graffiti, officers have been warning youngsters and asking parents to pay for the damage. At the heart of the intractable problem of police bureaucracy and inefficiency is a number: 43. That's how many police forces there are in England and Wales, each with its own chief constable, uniform and computer system.
We need to give chief officers the freedom to spend their money wisely - overtime is a vital part of that Acpo president Sir Hugh Orde Jan Berry says efforts to cut red tape are being hampered because forces operate in different ways and have distinct priorities. The Home Office says savings can be made if forces collaborate more and standardise procurement.
However, Mrs Berry said many forces were reluctant to adopt the scheme because they were worried that detection rates would fall. That may be so. But there's an argument - hinted at in the White Paper - that the most effective way to achieve savings will be to merge some of the 43 forces.
She added others were not using the 27,000 hand-held computers issued to officers to transfer case files electronically. When Charles Clarke tried to do this in 2005, before he was sacked as Home Secretary, the plans foundered on the issue of money: Mergers require up-front funding; only later on will there be savings.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the government has invested record amounts in policing over the past decade. Now, with public finances so stretched, it's hard to see where the cash will come from.
But with public finances under severe strain, ministers now expect forces to make significant savings. Mrs Berry also said chief constables - fearing damage to their reputations from low clear-up rates - had been reluctant to adopt a scheme giving officers more discretion when dealing with less serious crime.
The White )Paper states that by 2014 police could save £545m a year - about 5% of its government grant - including £400m on IT efficiencies and £75m on administrative costs. "It should be about what matters to the public not what matters to senior officers," she said.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said forces could save money by working together to buy computer systems and day-to-day equipment, rather than ordering them separately. The scheme, piloted in four areas, involved officers warning youths about petty crime such as vandalism and asking parents to pay for any damage, instead of arresting the youngsters.
"Police forces are collaborating to find ways to jointly procure - whether that's on uniforms, whether that's on cars, whether that's on air-support services," he said. Opposition politicians say more must be done to free up officers from paperwork.
Unveiling the White Paper, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said "record" levels of funding were guaranteed until next year and his "absolute priority" was to maintain front-line policing numbers.
The paper spells out how the police will be expected to save £100m next year, rising to £545m annually by 2014. This would represent about 5% of the total government grant police receive.
The pojected savings include £400m on IT efficiencies and £75m on administrative costs. The police helicopter fleet will be reduced by a fifth, while some forces will be given incentives to merge.
"Police forces are collaborating to find ways to jointly procure - whether that's on uniforms, whether that's on cars, whether that's on air-support services," Mr Johnson told the BBC.
"There are always opportunities to do more.""There are always opportunities to do more."
About £400m was spent on extra policing hours last year but President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, warned against too many cuts.About £400m was spent on extra policing hours last year but President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, warned against too many cuts.
"Only sergeants and constables are paid overtime. Where the need is, is at the front line so I think we need to be careful about salami-slicing the budget," he said."Only sergeants and constables are paid overtime. Where the need is, is at the front line so I think we need to be careful about salami-slicing the budget," he said.
"We need to give chief officers the freedom to spend their money wisely, to focus on the front-end of policing, and overtime is a vital part of that.""We need to give chief officers the freedom to spend their money wisely, to focus on the front-end of policing, and overtime is a vital part of that."
'Hard trick''Hard trick'
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said he understood the financial pressures on the government.Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said he understood the financial pressures on the government.
However, he said it would be a "hard trick to pull off" to ensure cuts did not impinge on front-line services.However, he said it would be a "hard trick to pull off" to ensure cuts did not impinge on front-line services.
"The public expects officers to be there when needed and sometimes that means overtime is going to have to be paid.""The public expects officers to be there when needed and sometimes that means overtime is going to have to be paid."
Mr McKeever said more centralised procurement could stop "an awful lot" of money being "wasted" by individual forces and that some force mergers were "inevitable".
Other proposals include encouraging single patrolling to maximise visibility and engagement with the public, although the federation says that already happens routinely in many areas.Other proposals include encouraging single patrolling to maximise visibility and engagement with the public, although the federation says that already happens routinely in many areas.
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the reforms did not go far enough and that a royal commission - a non-party political inquiry - should examine the issue. Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the reforms did not go far enough and that a royal commission - a non-party political inquiry - should look at restructuring the service.
"[The White Paper] talks about cutting overtime. It doesn't talk about restructuring the police service... restructuring the workforce," he said. Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said police were "swamped with time-wasting bureaucracy".
"It's got to change. We need to free up police and get them back on our streets fighting crime," he said.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said "countless reviews" had failed to improve police efficiency.
"The only way to cut red tape is to make proper use of voice-recognition technology, hand-held computers, and civilian keyboard operators," he said.