Hampshire Constabulary Chief Constable Alex Marshall held a conference on March 31, 2011, for the organisation’s senior leaders at which he communicated the vision for the future of Hampshire Constabulary.
Due to a reduction in the force’s budget, the constabulary has to make savings of between £40million and £50m by 2015, with the majority of the funds having to be found in the first two years.
As a result, a number of ongoing reviews have taken place in recent months in order to give a broad picture of how the force will be structured from April 2012 onwards and to ensure that the organisation can continue to provide high-quality services within a revised budget.
Some of the proposed changes are:
- There will be an increase in communications channels offered to the public, such as access to online advice and crime reporting
- The use of mobile data will be increased, which will allow officers to access and update information “in the field” rather than returning to a police station
- The Major Crime Department and the Serious Organised Crime Unit will be amalgamated to form one operational department
- The Roads Policing Unit, Firearms, Central Operations Critical Incident Cadre and Dogs departments will form part of a Joint Operations Unit with Thames Valley Police, with a reduction in the number of officers in each of the four areas
- There will be a long-term move towards more centralised support functions, with leaner processes, joined up IT, less bureaucracy and, ultimately, fewer staff.
The force is looking to reduce the number of people it employs by around 1,000 people in order to provide some of the required savings. However, Chief Constable Alex Marshall has maintained his commitment to protecting local policing resources – Targeted Patrol teams, Safer Neighbourhoods teams and local crime management – until April 2012 and, as far as possible, through to 2015.
Constabulary employees have been made aware of the proposed outcomes and further clarity around individual roles will be communicated during the more detailed implementation stage of the reviews and any consultation periods, which will take place throughout 2011 and into 2012.
Mr Marshall said: “As a force, we need to reshape Hampshire Constabulary to ensure we are a strong and successful police force, while making savings of up to £50m at the same time.
“Work by many members of the organisation over recent months has prepared us well for the challenge we now face and the proposals that have emerged from this work have been carefully thought through and should deliver the outcome we desire.
“The changes will happen over a period of time. Some are already under way, while others will not occur for a couple of years. Formal consultation will take place with staff and everyone within the organisation has a voice in shaping its future.”
To view the Hampshire Constabulary Business Plan 2010-2015, click here.
To read more about the chief constable's vision for Hampshire Constabulary, click here.
To view a map showing how the force's structure will change during 2011/12, click here.
To find out more about the proposed future geographical structure of Hampshire Constabulary, click here.
To view the roles and responsibilities of the force's senior leaders, click here.
To find out more about the proposals of the estate review and the change to police buildings, click here.
If you have any views or opinions that you would like to feedback to Hampshire Constabulary about the force change reviews that are currently taking place within the force, you can do so via Your Voice Counts by clicking here.
To contact Hampshire Constabulary's force change team, email force.change.team@hampshire.pnn.police.uk or call 101.
