UNISON Steps Up Campaign to Protect Neighbourhood Policing 

 01 December 2010

Dear Friends

Please see below the latest HQ press release to try and save jobs.

The fight goes on.

Kind regards

Caren

UNISON STEPS UP CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING

UNISON is warning that it would be a disaster for neighborhood policing if the government fails to protect ring-fenced funding for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).  The union fears that PCSOs will be in the front-line of cuts when the police funding settlements for forces is announced next week.

The union is calling for the ring-fence on neighbourhood policing funding to continue into the next Comprehensive Spending review period, and to March 2013 at the very least.  Without this guarantee, the union says that community policing will be undermined allowing anti-social behaviour to spiral.

Ben Priestley, UNISON’s National Officer for Police Staff, said:

“It would be criminal for the government to refuse to ring-fence funding for neighbourhood policing for another two years at least.  Policing is very much a team effort but , unlike police officers, PCSOs are employees who can be made redundant, making them much more vulnerable to cuts.
 
“UNISON is calling for neighbourhood policing to be protected and to do this we need to protect the ring-fenced grant over the next few years.  This would help chief constables and police authorities to protect vital community policing, in the face of the government’s 20% cuts to police funding.  

“‘Chiefs’ and authorities’ decisions on where the axe will fall, will be made doubly difficult by the likelihood of cash-strapped local councils stopping partnership funding of PCSOs, which sadly is already happening in some force areas.

“Neighbourhood policing is a success story that plays a huge part in preventing crime, building community links and reassuring residents and businesses.   We must think towards the future and ensure that all the hard work that has been achieved isn’t undone.”