CUTBACKS: £3m police cuts 'just the start'

A CUT of £3 million from this year’s South Yorkshire Police budget might be the start of bigger reductions to come, bosses fear.

New police minister Nick Herbert informed all chief constables that £125 million of cuts will be made to forces across the country in 2010/11.

South Yorkshire Police Authority will see its Home Office grant reduced from £110.2 million to £107.4 million.

Its capital grant will be reduced from £3.3 million to £3.1 million.

Bill Wilkinson, chief executive of SYPA, said: “The authority is concerned about the unprecedented in-year reduction in government grants.

“It’s hoped that we will be able to avoid cuts in services during the current year, because the authority and the chief constable are already making plans for phased savings in readiness for the bigger cuts which are expected from 2011.

Mr Wilkinson said: “Whichever way you look at it, there is £3 million that authority had assumed was available and which now represents a gap in our financial plans for the next four years.”