UNISON calls on Essex Police to keep PCSOs set to be axed as commissioner says plans will be 'revised' after new funding

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex Roger Hirst
-Credit:Essex Police


Essex Police should use extra announced government funding to keep all police community support officers (PCSOs) that it plans to make redundant, a union has said. All 99 PCSOs and 65 other police support staff were put at risk of redundancy earlier this week, with the force saying it didn’t have enough funding from government.

Now, the union UNISON have said the cuts will "pile pressure" on remainin staff and leave officers "struggling to cope". Within the cutbacks include more than half of front desk roles.

UNISON said scrapping PCSOs would undermine government pledges to return to neighbourhood policing, following the prime minister's pledge last month to put 13,000 new officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood policing. The force was due to receive £2.2m from the initial £100m earmarked funding, but this has now been doubled to £200m.

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Read more: Essex Police set to make 99 PCSOs and other staff redundant due to major funding shortfall

Read more: Labour MPs call for reversal on Essex Police's PCSOs redundancies

UNISON has called on chief constable BJ Harrington and police, fire and crime commissioner Roger Hirst to abandon the plans now that the new cash is available. Mr Hirst said the new funding would go "some way" to addressing the £5.3million budget gap the force faced and said he would "revise" proposals for 2025/26 off the back of the announcement.

Ben Turner, UNISON Essex Police branch secretary, said: “Police staff and officers are already stretched to their very limits. Continuing with these cuts would pile more pressure and extra work on any remaining staff, putting residents’ safety and even lives on the line.

“The government is pouring millions of pounds into re-establishing neighbourhood policing, but the staff who would make this a reality in Essex have just been given their marching orders. The chief constable and commissioner must use the extra funding to scrap these cuts.”

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Roger Hirst said: “As PFCC for Essex and the joint national finance lead of all police and crime commissioners in the UK, we appreciate the government has listened to concerns from police forces across the UK and we welcome the announcement of additional funding.

“We’ve lobbied hard for this funding to be increased through the consultation period. The decision we announced earlier this week has created concern and has resulted in change. This has been a difficult few days, we recognise the impact our announcement has had on people’s lives.

“This funding will go some way to bridging the £5.3m budget shortfall identified by Essex Police, allowing officers in the county to get crime down further and create safe, secure communities building prosperity and wellbeing for all. This is something we all want, no matter what political party we represent and support.

"We have opened our books and shared the details of our budget with the Home Office, details which forced us to make painful decisions. We value the lobbying work our Essex Labour MPs made to secure more funding for Essex Police and policing nationwide.

“We look forward to working with the Home Office and wider partners as we establish a long-term funding settlement which will allow police officers to continue their vital work in communities across Essex and the UK."

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Mr Hirst said making PCSOs and staff redundant was "the hardest decision we would ever have to make" but said he still aims to make Essex Police into "the biggest and strongest it has ever been". He added: "On the back of today's announcement, we will revise our proposals for 2025/26.

"I was elected to get crime down and create a visible police presence on the streets of Essex. Neighbourhood Policing, prevention of crime and intervention has always been at the core of our approach to getting crime down. This additional support from Government will help us continue with my stated ambition to reduce crime by 40 per cent during my term of office, as outlined in the Police and Crime Plan 2024- 2028.

“However hard the decisions, I am committed to working with everybody in Essex and nationally to secure the resources that Essex police need to achieve that aim."