80 civilian staff to go as police move to save £2.1m

LOTHIAN and Borders Police have agreed voluntary redundancies for 80 civilian staff members in a first round of job losses aimed at saving £2.1 million each year.

More than 300 people applied to leave under the redundancy scheme, but police chiefs ruled that only workers whose departure could be paid back in savings within two years were allowed to go.

A further 26 staff members have been put on a reserve list and may be allowed to leave in the coming months if their posts can be replaced internally, saving another 600,000 annually from next April.

But the move has been attacked amid fears that front line police officers may end up carrying out duties currently completed by civilian workers.

Richard Baker MSP, Labour's justice spokesman, said: "We think this makes a mockery of the Scottish Government's pledge to protect police numbers in terms of cuts. It's very clear the loss of these civilian staff members will mean that front line officers will be pulled back to do back room jobs.

"We believe that these cuts will have a direct impact on Lothian and Borders' ability to police the community."

Police chiefs said the "majority" of the redundancies had been selected because of their ability to "pay back" in salary savings within one year, with many near retirement or only in the job for a short period.

The scheme also stipulated that the posts of those leaving would be permanently deleted from the force, removing the need for future replacements.

The average redundancy payment is 18,773, with the average annual salary of those leaving standing at 20,927.

Councillor Iain Whyte, convener of the police board, said: "The whole idea behind the voluntary redundancy scheme has been to ensure that we could set a budget which allows the force to meet the concerns of the public and serve its needs, and stick to the officer numbers agreed with the Scottish Government.

"It's possible we could see more voluntary redundancies among police staff, but this process has been constructed so the force had to have the money up front to allow people to go."

Last week, it was reported that the force was set to abandon its recruitment freeze and hire 36 officers despite fears over its budget.

The move has been made to satisfy the demand by Scottish Finance Minister John Swinney in his November Budget to maintain police numbers.

A police spokesman said: "The voluntary redundancy scheme was introduced as a result of increased pressure on the force budget, which forced us to look at ways that we could reduce salary costs.

"It is important to stress that each application was considered within the context of ensuring the best possible standards of service."