Police force to get rid of all support officers because of £5 million funding shortfall
28 January 2025, 19:24 | Updated: 28 January 2025, 19:26
Essex Police is set to cut all of its police community support officers as it warns of a £5 million gap in funding that it can’t fill.
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The chief constable has said the annual settlement of cash from the Home Office is not enough to balance the books, even after millions of pounds in savings have been made.
The force is now proposing that it scraps all 99 of its PCSOs, who aren’t recognised by the government as police officers when it comes to targets that decide how much money is given to each area.
A further 65 staff roles will also be consulted for redundancy.
Essex police chief Ben-Julian Harrington said: "I've said repeatedly for the last few months that all I want is fair funding for a force that is already efficient - delivering tens of millions in savings over the last decade - driving down crime and working hard to keep our communities safe.
"Despite our extensive efforts to balance the books for the next financial year, we still have a shortfall.
Read more: Met Police could lose 2,000 officers as force's budget 'may be slashed by £450 million'
"The only thing left therefore that we can look at is reducing our people - that is the position that no Chief Constable wants to be in.
"I know our communities do not want to see this either, but financially there is nowhere left for us to go."
The Home Secretary has said she wants to prioritise PCSOs in her push towards neighbourhood policing but the details of what that will look like still haven't been shared.
By law, police chiefs need to balance their budgets by March.
A spokesperson for Essex Police insisted that no more police stations in the area will be closed but said they may need to consider a reduction in the hours that public counters are open.
LBC understands the Home Office funding settlement also doesn’t consider the extra cost of PCs who have served more than three years.
A policing source has said the same amount of money is essentially being provided each year for those officers, despite their salaries increasing.
“They’re giving us £5 for stuff that costs £50,” they said.
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Roger Hirst, said the government settlement "is not enough to meet pay and inflationary pressures".
Previously, Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned that 200 police officers and staff may have had to be let go.
Having already made savings and now requested the maximum precept increase allowed - which is added onto council tax - the force says together with the proposed cuts, it would allow them to maintain the current number of officers.
If approved by the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel next Tuesday, it could see a Band D property in the area paying 5.66% more, taking the annual total to £260.37.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are ensuring police have the funding to keep our communities safe and deliver on our Safer Streets Mission, with an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers, community support officers and special constables, all of whom will play a vital role in bringing visible policing to our streets.
"Essex Police Funding will be £431.1 Million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £24.9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement.”
