One year after cuts criticism, watchdog says police forces are making progress

TWO Yorkshire police forces criticised in a report last year for failing to cope with the impact of budget cuts have turned themselves around in the last 12 months, according to a watchdog.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jul 2014, 01:12 BST

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary says South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Police no longer ‘require improvement’ in the way they balance their budgets.

It last year singled out the two forces for criticism among five in the country, saying they would struggle to cope with further cuts because they relied too much on short-term savings.

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Thirty-five out of 43 forces were judged as having a ‘good’ response and five were judged to be ‘outstanding’. Only three forces required improvement.

West Yorkshire Police, HMIC said, was on track to achieve the £104 million in savings needed between 2011 and 2015. HM Inspector Roger Baker said: “West Yorkshire Police has faced one of the largest cuts in its spending of all forces and, after a faltering start in the early years of this spending review, has made rapid progress this year.”

South Yorkshire Police was said to be on track to achieve its required savings of £49.2 million over four years, though it has not reduced crime as quickly as other similar forces. Humberside and North Yorkshire were both said to have made good progress.