One of the many consequences of the unconscionable acts of violence, arson, destruction, arson, vandalism and looting seen in some UK cities and towns over recent days has been a rise in calls for the Coalition Government to reconsider its planned package of cuts to the police force.It is interesting to consider where police HR departments might fit into this debate.
Public appetite for policing grows
Yesterday's YouGov/Sun poll on the riots reveals a new appetite for increased powers for and presence from police among the UK public.
This comes at a time when Government policy is going in the opposite direction, with police cuts an established part of planned economic austerity measures intended to help banish the UK deficit by 2015.
Targeting the 'form fillers': Back-office roles in the firing line
It is worth remembering that - in the run-up to the 2010 general election - David Cameron set his sights on police force HR departments when asked to highlight examples of wasted resources in the Police service, which an incoming Conservative Government would target.
These included a direct reference to the Metropolitan Police HR department. Cameron said:
The Metropolitan Police have 400 uniformed officers in their human resources department. Our police officers should be crime fighters, not form-fillers, and that's what needs to change.The Coalition Government is pressing ahead with these plans. As the Guardian reports:
The Metropolitan police are expecting to cope with budgetary cuts of £543m over four years, meaning a reduction in police and support staff from 32,500 to 30,600.Back-office roles are very much in the firing lines. A London-based crime intelligence analyst told the BBC yesterday:
I too would like to ask the prime minister and mayor of London who they think are directing the police by sifting through intelligence and identfying potential vulberable locations for disorder? It's not the front-line staff that they promise will not be cut but the backroom staff who they are offering no such promise about! Every intelligence researcher across London was offered voluntary redundancy in the last two months.
Tide turning on police cuts?
However, in the wake of the recent UK riots, popular opinion would now seem to be turning against pursuing police spending cuts. In a Twitter discussion with me this morning, anonymous blogger Pub Philosopher noted the following:
Are police cuts unavoidable and/or 'manageable'?
What chance is there that the Coalition Government might reconsider police cuts?
In a new post published today (Thursday 11 August 2011), Pub Philosopher argues that the need to reduce public spending (including police spending) cuts across all party lines. The Pub Philosopher writes:
For now, the Coalition Government is not for turning on the planned police cuts. Responding to Boris Johnson's calls to reconsider police cuts, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stated yesterday that:
It will be extremely interesting to see how the debate around the planned police cuts unfolds over the coming weeks.
Responding to Cameron's original attack on the profession last year, Metropolitan Police HR director Martin Tiplady told Personnel Today:
It will therefore also be interesting to see whether the upcoming debate on police cuts reveals any change in Cameron's view on the value of the "form fillers" in the modern police force.
UPDATE 1 (Friday 12 August 2011): Rick - author of the Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog - has this morning published a new blog post, entitled Time to rethink those police cuts. This is a typically excellent piece of data journalism, in which Rick concludes: "Civitas warned earlier this year that 2011 could be 'The start of a great decade for criminals?' The last few days have been certainly good for them. If police spending is cut by 20 percent, things could be about to get a whole lot better." Please spare a moment to read this post in full.
UPDATE 2 (Monday 15 August 2011): My colleague Laura Chamberlain has published a powerful and moving new blog post, detailing her first-hand reactions to the scenes of devastation caused by the riots in Croydon, entitled Croydon: After the riots. Please do take the time to read it, and to see the photographs she has taken.
However, in the wake of the recent UK riots, popular opinion would now seem to be turning against pursuing police spending cuts. In a Twitter discussion with me this morning, anonymous blogger Pub Philosopher noted the following:
All the gung-ho talk of police cuts, and even the civilian staff cuts, seems to have stopped."Indeed, division is arising within the Coalition Government itself as to the advisability of persisting with the planned cuts to the police force. The BBC reports that Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday "said the 'pretty frail' case for cutting police numbers had been "substantially weakened" following the riots."
Are police cuts unavoidable and/or 'manageable'?
What chance is there that the Coalition Government might reconsider police cuts?
In a new post published today (Thursday 11 August 2011), Pub Philosopher argues that the need to reduce public spending (including police spending) cuts across all party lines. The Pub Philosopher writes:
Society is simply more expensive to police today than it was a quarter of a century ago. [...] Maintaining [the current] level of spending [on policing] will become increasingly difficult, given the UK's current fiscal position. It is now beyond all reasonable doubt that the cost of the state will continue to rise over the next couple of decades. Accountancy firm PwC estimates that by 2020 another £20bn will need to be found, either in spending cuts or tax increases, on top of George Osborne's planned £81bn cuts. Consequently, the government has already started to cut the number of police officers and support staff. Labour may well criticise but, if they were in power, they would almost certainly be doing something similar.Despite this last point, the Labour party has called for the Coalition Government to abandon its planned police cuts.
For now, the Coalition Government is not for turning on the planned police cuts. Responding to Boris Johnson's calls to reconsider police cuts, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stated yesterday that:
We wouldn't be making the suggestions we are about the savings that the police forces are going to make without being confident that that is manageable. [...] Of course the police have to make savings just as everybody else does.Where do the 'form fillers' stand in 2011?
It will be extremely interesting to see how the debate around the planned police cuts unfolds over the coming weeks.
Responding to Cameron's original attack on the profession last year, Metropolitan Police HR director Martin Tiplady told Personnel Today:
The police officers are not form-filling. Most of them are training other cops. I'm quite relieved that police officers are training police officers. They are there because they need to be there to train others.HR departments are arguably as essential to a fully effective police force as any other back-office function.
It will therefore also be interesting to see whether the upcoming debate on police cuts reveals any change in Cameron's view on the value of the "form fillers" in the modern police force.
UPDATE 1 (Friday 12 August 2011): Rick - author of the Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog - has this morning published a new blog post, entitled Time to rethink those police cuts. This is a typically excellent piece of data journalism, in which Rick concludes: "Civitas warned earlier this year that 2011 could be 'The start of a great decade for criminals?' The last few days have been certainly good for them. If police spending is cut by 20 percent, things could be about to get a whole lot better." Please spare a moment to read this post in full.
UPDATE 2 (Monday 15 August 2011): My colleague Laura Chamberlain has published a powerful and moving new blog post, detailing her first-hand reactions to the scenes of devastation caused by the riots in Croydon, entitled Croydon: After the riots. Please do take the time to read it, and to see the photographs she has taken.
- Thanks to @adders for sharing the link to the gallery of UK front pages used in the first sentence of this post.
- Riots: employment issues arising from disruption XpertHR provides guidance for employers on dealing with disruption to the workplace caused by disturbances to public transport, damage to business premises, and employee involvement in the rioting.
- Employers struggle with impact of riots Personnel Today reports.
- General election 2010: David Cameron hits out at Metropolitan Police HR 'waste' XpertHR's 2010 report on the original "form fillers" controversy.
Comments
Here we reproduce the comments on this post submitted by readers of XpertHR Employment Intelligence:
Interesting sir, to your point about cutting police funds/staff...here in Memphis, Tn, earlier this summer there were talks about cutting the police budget and incidentally the next day an off duty cop was killed. That talk has stopped. I think we forget what the peace keepers are asked to do for us. Just saying.
Posted by chris | August 11, 2011 2:47 PM
Thanks for the comment, Chris, and for sharing parallels with the situation in Memphis.
It will be very interesting to see how this one pans out in the UK. Public spending cuts (of which police cuts are just one part) are so integral to the UK Coalition Government's economic strategy that any reversal of cuts in one area would have severe knock-on effects for other areas of public spending, as the savings would have to be made elsewhere.
Please do keep us posted as to whether there are any further developments as regards the situation in Memphis.
Michael
Posted by Michael Carty Author Profile Page | August 11, 2011 2:52 PM
| Tweet |
|
| Permalink | Email this |
