EPPING FOREST: £50m of police cuts needed (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

EPPING FOREST: £50m of police cuts needed

8:26am Thursday 21st October 2010 in Epping Forest News By Clare Hardy

THE police force serving the district has announced that it will have to make cuts of around £50m over the next four years.

Essex Police has estimated the savings needed after the Government's Spending Review for the country was laid out yesterday.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Bliss said: “As more than 80 per cent of our budget is spent on officer and support staff salaries, there will inevitably be less staff employed by us as we move forward.

“We are currently working on a completely new blueprint for policing and are taking the opportunity to fundamentally re-design all aspects of how we deliver our services.”

The force has set up a programme to find the best ways of making savings across the county.