Police face cuts of up to 20% across England and Wales Ministers are seeking “revenge” on the police for foiled attempts to reform pay in 1993, the Police Federation of England and Wales’ chairman is to say.
Budget cuts are hitting police numbers and those remaining face a pay freeze and changes to allowances and pensions.
Paul McKeever will tell delegates at the federation’s annual conference in Bournemouth that the plans amount to “be kind to criminals, kick a cop”.
The home secretary is expected to defend the plans at the conference.
Theresa May is expected to say they are essential as part of the spending review – but she also wants to work with the police on cutting red tape and finding ways to modernise the job.
However, officers say they feel under attack from the government on a range of fronts.
Officer numbers are falling after reaching record highs and central government funding for police is being cut by a fifth under the Spending Review.
Ministers have also backed a far-reaching package of reforms which they say will modernise pay and conditions and award talented hard-working frontline officers.
“This government, to put it bluntly, hate the police service and want to destroy it in order to rebuild it again, but in their image”
John Giblin, Police Federation
But chief constables are struggling to make the cuts work and the Chief Inspector of Constabulary has warned that some forces will find it difficult to reduce budgets without cutting the frontline.
Mr McKeever is expected to tell the conference that the reforms being pushed by the coalition amount to “payback” for their successful campaign against similar proposals during John Major’s Conservative government.
The 1993 Sheehy report called for performance-related pay, cuts in overtime and fixed-term contracts. The Police Federation argued against it, saying policing was a unique job with exceptional risks. Most of the package was scrapped after officers staged a rally at Wembley Arena.
The home secretary’s visit to the conference comes after a stormy first day. Opening the conference, a leading member of the Police Federation accused the government of “hating” the police and wanting to “destroy” the service.
John Giblin said: “We acknowledge that some cuts are necessary due to the parlous state of the country’s finances, but we feel greatly let down that we are not considered to be a protected priority area by the government.
“They have and will continue to spew out that much-abused mantra that we have to be more effective and efficient, but don’t be fooled by this insincere, nihilist, smoke and mirrors, slash and burn policy, for it is in large parts economics and in greater part ideology.
“This government, to put it bluntly, hate the police service and want to destroy it in order to rebuild it again, but in their image.”
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