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28 March 2025
A damning new report is the latest in a long line of studies that highlight the devastating impact a decade of cuts has had on policing.
That’s the view of Nottinghamshire Police Federation chair Simon Riley following a new His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) report.
Simon said HMICFRS has identified many of the issues facing frontline policing that the Federation has long been highlighting as he called for urgent steps to address them.
The report – An inspection into how effectively the police investigate crime – found that demand on the police has increased by 32 per cent over the past decade while officer numbers have not kept pace.
Branch chair Simon Riley.
It found that workloads were too high, the complexity of crime was increasing, as was the time it took forces to investigate them.
And it found that many supervisors and investigators were inexperienced and lacked the necessary training.
Simon said: “These are all issues that we’ve been highlighting as a Federation for the past decade and more.
“We’ve got an overworked, underpaid, and undervalued workforce, inexperienced officers struggling to cope, and a recruitment and retention crisis.
“All of which is delaying investigations, failing victims, and eroding faith in the police and the justice system.”
The new report follows recent research by Metfriendly, which found 24 per cent of officers with one to five years of service are contemplating leaving policing and 18 per cent of officers in this group are considering taking on a second job.
The Metfriendly survey also found that 64 per cent of officers reported financial concerns; 17 per cent of officers are missing meals due to a lack of money; and 55 per cent of officers say financial stress is severely impacting their wellbeing
In the branch’s most recent Pay and Morale Survey, 45 per cent of respondents reported low morale.
Almost three quarters (71 per cent) per cent said that they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall remuneration, with 12 per cent reporting not having enough money to cover their monthly essentials.
Some 11 per cent of respondents in Nottinghamshire Police intend to resign from the service in the next two years citing morale (81 per cent), how the police are treated by the government (70 per cent), and the impact of the job on mental health and wellbeing (68 per cent) as the reasons.
Simon said: “We’ve always said cuts have consequences and this HMICFRS report is the latest in a long line of reports that confirms just that.
“When are the Government and policy makers going to sit up and take notice because this can’t go on?
“We need change for the good of our members, the victims of crime, and the wider public.”
The HMICFRS report said: “Interviewees told us that officers and staff often couldn’t investigate crime as well as they wanted to because their workloads were too high, they were under pressure and they didn’t have enough time.”
The report states that while recorded crime rates have increased over the past decade, there has been an increase in the population; a reduction in the total number of police officers and police staff; an increase in the proportion of officers who have fewer than five years’ service; and an increase in the complexity of crime investigations.
“As a result of all these factors, we believe that forces need more officers and staff in order to investigate volume crime more effectively,” the report said.
HMICFRS added: “Interviewees said that on some days, they don’t get any opportunity to progress ongoing cases as they are dealing with new cases.
“Some investigators only have two days in every ten when they can progress existing cases and investigations.
“One investigator told us: ‘Victims call for updates, and we can’t tell them anything. It’s embarrassing really.’”
Tiff Lynch, acting chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “If government have been honest about describing the NHS as a broken system full of heroes, they must do the same for policing.
“This report shows a service and a workforce stretched beyond its limits.
“The government cannot expect high-quality policing and safer streets when it refuses to fairly pay those whose blood, sweat and tears delivers it day in and day out.”
READ MORE: Financial struggles of officers laid bare in new study.
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