Hampshire Police Fedeation Chairman, John Apter talks to Police Oracle over his concerns about the Force restructure. A senior Police Federation official has strong reservations over whether a major overhaul of his force will be enough to maintain service levels to the public. John Apter, Chairman of the staff association in Hampshire, said he hoped the restructure at the constabulary – which has seen hundreds of officers redeployed – would have a successful outcome. But he warned: “You cannot expect to take £80 million out of the budget over the a number of years, as has happened here, and not expect service to suffer. This is the reality of the financial position. “This is the key concern of my members who want to do the best they can for the public – but they feel they have their hands tied behind their backs with their own handcuffs. “As a police officer, I hope and pray that our new model works. But as a realist, and somebody that picks up the pieces when things go wrong, I have to say I am worried.” Streamlined services As reported on PoliceOracle, Hampshire Constabulary has been restructured into four “service areas” – intelligence and co-ordination, prevention and neighbourhoods, response and patrol and investigation – in a move to streamline services. Announcing the package in October last year, Chief Constable Andy Marsh said reorganisation was the “only viable way” to deliver the latest £25 million round of budget cuts. CC Marsh said:“It will surprise nobody that there are tough decisions ahead. What I am not prepared to do is continue in a direction that is unsustainable, risks public safety and that locks in unreasonable pressure on staff and police officers. “We have to look properly at the benefits of doing things differently, understand and assess the risks attached, use this to make decisions and then be open and transparent about what this means in terms of what we can and cannot deliver for the public.” CC Marsh added that the change plan – which would take place alongside other initiatives such as collaboration – aimed to drive down unnecessary bureaucratic structures. Officers redeployed While Mr Apter admitted he had concerns about the new model, he accepted that the chief was in “very difficult position” as a result of an unprecedented financial situation. But he said the restructuring had proved to be unsettling for hundreds of officers who had been re-deployed – and had little say about the matter under Police Regulations. Mr Apter added: “It is difficult to have an influence in this respect as officers can be placed anywhere unless there are good welfare or operational reasons why it should not happen “The response from the force has been positive, but deployment decisions rest with the chief. We are going through a major structural change at the force, and I have heard that somewhere in the region of 2,000 officers are now being told where they deployed. “The vast majority of officers, however, will see little difference to the role or where they are based. But for a significant minority there will be disruption that will impact on work and private lives – we are working to minimise this as best we can.” The chairman said the ramifications of the cuts – and restrucuturing – are likely to be a key discussion point at the Hampshire Police Federation open meeting on October 8. Hampshire Constabulary was contacted but had not responded as this story went live.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:47:24 +0000
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