Suffolk Police Cuts

16 November 2011, 15:57 | Updated: 16 November 2011, 17:13

Suffolk police say around 300 jobs will have to go at the force and stations will be closing as they look to make £13.6m in savings over the next four years.

It comes as the force is receiving a 20% cut from government funding.

However they say they are still committed to maintaining crime fighting capability and a quality of service.

Most of the cuts will be happening in the first two of the four years, with the vast majority happening this year and next year.

The force has said they have to reduce headcount as part of the cuts, however, they say they want to protect the frontline by maintaining the number of Constables and Community Support Officers but reducing the number of supervisors.

There has already been some collaboration with the Norfolk force and in future all protective services between the two forces will be combined. They also want to join up business support functions.

The force also wants to save money by having more efficient buildings. They will be closing some stations, including Ipswich and Woodbridge, and sharing buildings with the council instead.

Chief Constable Simon Ash told Heart if it wasn't for the budget cuts, the changes wouldn't be so dramatic

"The changes are definitely being accelerated because of the financial challenge we're facing. There's no doubt about that, and you can't get away from the fact that that is a very strong driver and change has got to follow, otherwise we just wouldn't make those cuts."

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