Norfolk Officers Placed In Staff Roles Due To Budget Shortfalls

7 February 2025

Norfolk Police officers are being placed in staff roles due to budget shortfalls, which Norfolk Police Federation warns will lead to officers burning out and leaving the service.

Last week, Policing Minister Diana Johnson said that police forces in England and Wales were facing “difficult and challenging” circumstances. The Government has said it will invest an extra £100m in neighbourhood policing in the next financial year, but this won’t cover every force’s shortfall.

Essex Police is planning to cut 65 police staff roles, as well as reduce its South East Allowance payment by £250 and cut its Detective payment. Meanwhile Lincolnshire Police has said it may be forced to cut 200 police officers by 2029.

Norfolk Police Federation Chair Andy Symonds said: “Here in Norfolk, the Chief Constable has to find £4m just to stand still, due to the recent central Government funding allocation. This is a continuation of austerity that has been going on since 2010 – 15 years of a continual decline in the ability of policing to deliver the service the community deserves.”

He continued: “The Chief Constable is having to place uniformed police officers into police staff posts, as Home Office restrictions mean he can’t recruit police staff. My members are the ones that this hits.

“My members want to be responding to calls for service; they were not recruited to fill staff roles. Police staff play a vital role in supporting and enabling my colleagues to get on with serving their communities in solving and preventing crime. They are being hindered from doing so.”

Andy said that officers were at breaking point, adding: “Our communities would be shocked by the low numbers of officers who are available to respond to calls – they are now, more than ever, the ‘thin blue line’.

“I fear more officers will become unwell due to the demands being heaped upon them. The consequences are being seen already, with resignations from the police service at the highest level ever. There were over 5,000 resignations last year, a figure that has almost doubled over five years. And nationally, officers are owed 19,000 rest days. These are all huge red flags for policing.”