Police spending under spotlight
Monday 29th June 2009, 5:30AM BST.
More than 250 employees of West Mercia Police were paid at least £50,000 last year, the annual accounts reveal.
Allowances and expenses claimed by the police authority members totalled £302,000.
The figures are revealed in the annual statement of accounts for 2008/9 due to be approved by the police authority’s audit committee on Tuesday.
They show a total of 254 civilian and police employees had annual pay packets between £50,000 and £150,000 – compared with 202 the previous year.
Two people were in the top bracket of £140,000 to £149,999, and 192 in the £50,999 to £59,999 range.
A total of £270,000 was paid in allowances to the 17 police authority members – lay people who oversee the constabulary and its management. They also claimed a further £32,000 in expenses.
Spending on publicity totalled £695,000, including £205,000 on safety camera advertising.
Police employees still benefit from final salary pension schemes – the local government scheme for police staff and the police pension scheme for police officers.
Crime in West Mercia, which covers Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is at its lowest level for nine years.
The only blip in the figures is for house burglaries, with a 5.7 per cent increase in numbers over the previous year and a 6.5 per cent reduction in the detection rate.
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Any fingerprints on the till?
Its a plain and simple fact that in future this country won’t be able to afford ‘final salary pension schemes’ for police or any other public sector workers. The gravy train has pulled out of town.
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Well of course the crime rate will go up, and the amount dealt with go down…after all, our wonderful Police Force are too busy out there spending all that lovely money they earnt to worry about paltry things such as us mere mortals!
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The pay of Police Officers is set by statute and this current year, they were refused an arbitration award by a discredited Home Secretary, (Jacqui Smith) who herself agreed for the claim to go to arbitration only to later renege on it. The ratio of supervisory and Senior ranks is also set by the Home Office so in this regard the Police themselves have little or no influence on the actual amounts.
What should be of direct concern to us as taxpayers is the continuing, year after year increases in the Police precept of the Council Tax. In this regard, they appear to be just like MPs and the BBC, “it is taxpayers money so why should we bother”.
Well, I certainly bother, in the face of falling standards of policing (and nobody give me the guff about crime levels etc), every year we have to pay through the nose in a never ending spiral of Council Tax.
What should also be of concern to us as Taxpayers is the salary scales of “support” or “civilian staff”. Salaries for the various “grades” again, is set nationally but the critical issue, those who set the “grade” to do a particular job is set by senior Civilian Staff within the force. They therefore have a vested interest in setting the “grades” at the highest levels possible in order to justify increases for themselves in order to maintain demarcation levels, ie set your Deputies grade at a high level so that he/she will have a high salary scale in order that your own as the boss must be that much higher.
This suspected principle has led to numerous civilian grades having massive salaries compared with similar jobs in the private sector.
The finance of the Police should be held for two years at current levels plus inflation, no more, no less. perhaps then they will act a bit more prudently.
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Interesting to note the number of senior police officers who obtain a promotion within a year or so of retirement. Inspector to Superintendent etc.
Bumps up the value of their pension to same level as they earned before the promotion. Clearly an unwritten undertsnding within police forces that this will happen.
This is not promotion on merit, but promotion to boost pension, no serving officer complains about it, as they all hope to take advantage of it.
Given all that has been said by the boys in blue about expenses etc, maybe about time someone (maybe an investigative journalist) took a long hard look at this and other similar practices in the police force.
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Point 4 > In the past, army officers were, on retirement, promoted two ranks above current rank to benefit from a super-enhanced pension. Does anyone know if this is still the case?
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Post 5>
No it is not the case, and has never officially been the case, certainly not in recent times. I think you’re harking back to the times when Officers could buy their promotions!
You also have to have held the rank for two years prior to retirement to qualify for the higher pension. This has been the case certainly fot the last 20 years.
Source – Myself (Serving Naval officer)
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Spending on publicity totalled £695,000, including £205,000 on safety camera advertising???????
If speed cameras worked, there would be no need to advertise them as being successful using misleading and bogus propaganda.
£2 million a year spent by the Camera Partnership and nothing to show for it in terms of road safety benefit across West Mercia.
There is no evidence anywhere in the world that a camera has ever prevented a collision or a casualty (nor is there a credible explanation as to how it could).
There is, however, documented evidence where cameras have contributed to accidents and even deaths.
I’ve been asking questions of the Partnership Board for nearly a year and they have failed to give any convincing replies. They are a total waste of money.
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rpt.Barrington-Black. You are quite definately wrong. This is not the case and never has been.
Again, “the numerical establishment” of forces is set by the Home Office, the ratio of supervisors to subordinates and the “establishment” of each rank is set by the Home Office and local forces have little or no influence on this. eg, a Chief Constable cannot say that he will have six Superintendents when the Home Office say’s that he can only have five.
Promotions can only be made when there is a specific vacancy occurring in that rank, unless there is an increase in “establishment” approved by the Home Office.
The notion that a Chief Constable can willy nilly promote any number he chooses in each rank is wrong, he cannot.
Neither is it possible for an Inspector to be promoted to Superintendent, there is the rank of Chief Inspector between them, in which, everyone must have served if they wish to gain promotion to the Superintending ranks.
There are few options open to Chief’s for fiddling about with sworn Police Officers. With the civilian support staff, then there is an entirely different ball game and these are growing like topsy and so are their salaries.
Rodney Nosnail is also wrong as Grant points out. I am aware of two ex Army Officers who held “regular commissions” during and after the war (not National Service or Short Service Commissions) who were allowed to call themselves by the “Honoury” rank of Major after retirement when their substantive ranks had been Captains. They drew the pension of Captains. This used to be a common practice and some still retain this somewhat pompous rank of Captain, Major etc even though they left the services just after the war. It no longer applies and many who could have done it, didn’t.
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