Nottinghamshire police strike over planned cuts
Police support staff in Nottingham have begun a 24-hour strike to protest against restructuring and redundancies.
Unison says the planned cuts to the Nottinghamshire Police force says will make staff “needlessly redundant”.
In a statement, the union said it was “stunned by the force’s reluctance to enter into talks”.
“We can do nothing else but hold our leaders entirely responsible for the reputational damage to the force, the detrimental loss of public confidence combined with the sheer waste of public money, and not least the continued failure to treat union members with dignity and respect.”
The union has also called on its members to take part in “work to rule” strike action from Wednesday.
‘No effect on services’
Nottinghamshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley criticised the industrial action but said it was having no effect on police services.
We hope they will recognise that the restructure the force has embarked upon is necessary if we are to meet substantially reduced budgets. Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley
“We are extremely disappointed it has come to this as we believe industrial action will not benefit police staff, the organisation or ultimately, the public of Nottinghamshire.
“So far, the impact of strike action has had no impact on our service and we’ve hit the 100 per cent target for answering our 999 and other non-emergency calls,” he said.
The force said only seven employees went on strike overnight in the force control room and custody cells.
Nottinghamshire police said they had received official notice from Unison that its members of police staff were being asked to take part in two days of strike action on Tuesday and Friday.
‘Substantial budget cuts’
Assistant Chief Constable Ackerley says there have been fewer than 20 compulsory redundancies in a group of around 350 police staff who have been through the restructuring process.
More than 150 police staff have left through voluntary redundancy.
“A second phase affecting more than 700 members of staff is likely to see similar numbers.
“We hope they will recognise that the restructure the force has embarked upon is necessary if we are to meet substantially reduced budgets,” he said.
Nottinghamshire Police, which has about 1,750 civilian staff employees, intends to cut £46m by 2015.