Police still to find £44m cuts

MORE than £44 million worth of cuts must still be found by Greater Manchester Police.

Government plans to slash £2 billion from the national police budget by 2015 will see GMP’s allocation cut by £133.7 million.

Savings of £89.6 million have already been identified, meaning a further £44.1 million must be found.

The Labour Party released the figures as it launched an Independent Commission on the Future of Policing in England and Wales. The Commission will be chaired by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens.

Nationally, £508.9 million of savings still need to be found across the forces.

Some forces across the country, including West Yorkshire have found more savings than they need.

In real terms — taking inflation into account — the £133.7 million cash reduction for GMP is the equivalent to 17 per cent of its gross expenditure. Labour backs no more than a 12 per cent overall cut.

Earlier this year GMP reported a likely reduction of 1,592 officers, 1,083 police staff and 14 PCSOs by the end of March 2015, compared with March last year.