Humberside’s police and crime commissioner said the force faces challenges from the cost of living crisis and economy but he is confident it is competent enough to face them.
Humberside PCC Jonathan Evison said the mounting cost of living crisis could create deprivation-linked crime as inflation puts pressure on the forces finances.
But he added Humberside Police benefited from very competent leadership and the latest data showed it was succeeding in tackling crime overall.
Mr Evison’s comments came as he addressed the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce.
It follows the Police Inspectorate’s rating of the Humberside force as Outstanding late last year, making it one of the best-performing forces nationally.
Mr Evison told the AGM crime had fallen by 34 per cent since 2019 and a host of other measures showed the force was performing well.
But the ongoing cost of living and inflation crises have created headwinds for the police locally and nationally.
Humberside Police has been tasked with saving £7.5m in the next five years as inflation pushes up its bills and salary costs.
But Mr Evison told LDRS there would be no cuts to either full time officers or PSCOs as a result.
The AGM heard the force would have a 2,698 warrant officers by the end of March, including 148 PCSOs and 120 special officers.
The PCC said:
“We’ve got an extremely competent and well-led police force in the Humber region, it’s expanding and it will continue to expand.
“There will be challenges going forward because crime does have a link to deprivation.
“But at the end of the day if you’ve got a good police force people will think twice about trying their luck, and we’ve got some of the highest arrest rates of any force.
“Financially, we’ve got a target to save £1.5m a year and this year we’ve already saved £2.5m, we’re also investing £16m from reserves in the coming years.
“Through my role I’ve saved about £1m which is repeatable every year.
“But there will be significant challenges particularly around wages and utilities, the cost of utilities to the force alone has gone up from £2m to £4m.
“Wage pressure’s going to amount to around £22m in the medium term, salary increases for the police force is budgeted to be 3.5 per cent, but we have that figure built into our financial strategy going forward.
“Despite that we’ve got good financial management and the reason is that we already had reserves put away for a rainy day.
“So I’m very confident we can maintain officer numbers, including special officers.
“One of the problems we have is that a lot of them want to become professional police officers, when they go on to become warrant officers that leaves us chasing our tails with their roles.
“But we’ve got a target in place to increase special officer numbers by a couple of hundred, and we’re not going to be cutting PSCO numbers.
“Myself and the chief constable have significant discussions about all areas in Humberside in terms of the crime that’s happening there, though ultimately it’s an operational issue for the force itself.
“It’s very good to be a PCC in Humberside right now, crime’s down in just about every area that you can measure it.
“We have a can do attitude, when I ask for something from the force is: ‘what’s the question?’
“We’re keen to work with businesses, it’s so important we do because if people are in work then they’re far less likely to become criminals.
“Businesses are vitally important, they’re the life blood of any area.”
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