Leicestershire Police could cut almost 200 jobs to tackle deficit

Leicestershire Police could cut 188 jobs due to a budget deficit, although police officer numbers will remain the same.

The potential job losses were revealed during a meeting about the force's 2024-25 budget.

Chief Constable Rob Nixon said Leicestershire residents were not "being given a fair slice of the formula" when it came to funding.

The force's overall budget for the year will fall short by £5.4m.

Councillors voted at the meeting to approve the police's share of council tax for the next financial year at the maximum possible amount of £13 per Band D property, representing an increase of 4.76%.

Mr Nixon blamed the shortfall largely on "unfunded" pay awards over the past two years.

The government agreed a £1,900 pay increase for police staff in 2022, while a further 7% rise was confirmed last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Nixon said: "Potentially we could be talking about up to 188 staff, which is a fairly significant number. These are staff that are doing front-line roles.

"So when we talk about a £5.4m gap, and that is falling on staff, we are going to have to make some very difficult decisions, and it will have an impact in various different elements of the force.

"There would be no area across the force that wouldn't be touched on by this level of cuts, but I'm confident we'll do it in a really sensitive and measured way."

Leicestershire's police and crime commissioner, Rupert Matthews, acknowledged to members of the panel that residents were "feeling the pinch".

But he said afterwards that it would be "downright irresponsible" to put recent progress - including a 332 increase in police officers, and an expanded rural crime team - at risk, and said the council tax increase was necessary.

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