Axing 2,000 Met civilians 'won't hit police patrols'

Scotland Yard is planning to axe nearly 2,000 civilian workers to cut staffing costs in the next five years.

New figures released by the Met show it has offered voluntary redundancy to nearly 4,000 staff in the past 10 months.

Deputy mayor for policing Kit Malthouse said: "We have to reduce our non-police officer head count and we believe this is the most civilised way of doing it. We must protect the front line."

So far more than 1,200 jobs have gone, ranging from Police Community Support Officers and catering staff to traffic wardens and counter staff.

An internal report reveals the Met has budgeted £53 million to pay for voluntary redundancies for nearly 2,000 of the Met's civilian workforce of 14,000.

Job losses are part of a programme of cuts meant to save £600 million by 2015. The Met is also selling off buildings, including many police stations. This year the force is putting 19 buildings up for sale and preparing a further 18 for disposal. The scale of the cuts has led to fears that police officers will be forced to do more work behind the scenes.

Jenny Jones, Green Party member for the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "Police officers are highly trained with specialist skills and should be used in roles that require these skills.

"Putting officers on front counters, when this can be done successfully by specialist staff for less, delivers poor value for money for Londoners."

Unite union officer Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said: "We want Boris Johnson to guarantee that police numbers won't be undermined by police officers sitting behind desks covering for the staff who have been made redundant."

A report to the MPA's finance committee today says two unions, Unite and Prospect, have pulled out of negotiations with Met managers because of concerns over the scale of the cutbacks.