Police force faces officer cuts

Police have already put a freeze on new officer recruitment Force confirms 100 new recruits

Scotland's smallest police force has said a reduction in its officer numbers is "likely" in order to cope with serious budget pressures.

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary has already introduced a recruitment freeze in a bid to tackle the problem.

A report to councillors highlighted that the force's fuel expenditure alone has risen by £140,000 in the last year.

It concluded that in practical terms the easiest way to "manage down" costs would be a reduction in staff numbers.

In his report, Chief Constable Pat Shearer said he was aware the move came against the background of Scottish Government efforts to fund more officers.

We do have significant budget pressures and the police themselves do have to take some action on this Cllr Ian Blake Police committee chairman

However, he reiterated his commitment to meet budget targets and avoid an overspend at the end of the financial year.

The report to the police committee stated: "The Chief Constable has already given elected members a commitment that he will not overspend against this year's budget.

"What this means in practical terms is that to manage down to the budget figure it is most likely that there will require to be a reduction in the number of officers.

"In an attempt to reduce expenditure the force has already taken the decision that it will suspend recruitment of new officers for the foreseeable future."

Chairman of the police committee, Cllr Ian Blake, said he was "sorry to see it coming about".

Dumfries and Galloway Council will discuss the issue this week

"We do have significant budget pressures and the police themselves do have to take some action on this," he told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland.

"We will look at many ways to try to resolve this pressure."

However, he stressed that the situation was subject to change.

"There is a projected overspend of £439,000 for this coming financial year a great part of that has been caused by the fuel crisis," he said.

"It is a moving picture - we are looking at this every day and at ways to try and resolve the issue."

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker said the situation showed the SNP's pledge to provide more police officers was "failing".

"Dumfries and Galloway - despite being Scotland's smallest force - has real policing problems and needs to be supported," he said.

"They are being failed by the SNP."

'Slap in the face'

Dumfries Labour MSP Elaine Murray added that the matter would be "deeply concerning" to residents of the region.

Dumfries and Galloway's Labour MP Russell Brown described it as "a real slap in the face" for the SNP's pledge on policing.

The Scottish Government stressed that the force had 516 officers at the end of June, 4% more than last year and the most it had ever had.

The force also got four out of the 150 government-funded officers recruited last year and would get extra funding to recruit a further 25 officers over the next two years.

An SNP spokesman criticised what he called "Labour's obsession with negative politics".

"Police numbers are at record levels under the SNP government - nationally and in Dumfries and Galloway," he said.

"Before the SNP government took office, police recruitment was at its lowest level since devolution with many officers due to retire, leaving a huge potential gap in police numbers."

Councillors will meet in Dumfries to discuss the issue on Tuesday.