Challenging times for Gloucestershire Constabulary – but we have plans to improve where we need to

Ahead of the new financial year next month, Gloucestershire Constabulary is setting out plans for financial and organisational stability, including sustained improvement in areas we know we need to do better in, at a cost we can afford.

For a number of years, policing nationally and locally has been making the case for further funding.

In Gloucestershire, we need to save £12.3m over the next 12 months. The Force is taking decisive action, and there will be some difficult choices ahead.

However, we are absolutely committed to continuing to protect the frontline and provide the operational services our diverse communities need.

From next week, we will be:

• adopting a plan for swift and sustained progress to improve our performance in areas such as child protection, domestic abuse, neighbourhood crime, and serious organised crime
• rebalancing a number of our functions to form an updated Neighbourhood service, in line with the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee
• filling vacancies in Crime Command to bolster our investigations, particularly in public protection, our child abuse teams, and for neighbourhood crime
• taking decisive action to save £12.3m over the next 12 months including regrettably, making up to 60 police staff posts redundant over the course of the year, and transferring our mounted capability to another force.

Our plan – the Gloucestershire Rapid Improvement Plan (GRIP) 2025/26

As well as achieving financial and organisational stability, our new plan – the GRIP – sets out how we intend to transform some of our work, continue to provide an effective service, and improve our performance.

Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said: “Since joining the Constabulary I have been impressed with just how many dedicated, professional and hard-working people there are working for it.

“It’s clear though that many are juggling competing demands and high workloads and so the GRIP is intended to make clear for all officers and staff exactly what we want them to focus on.

“It sets out the need for ‘excellence in the basics’ – the professional standards all officers and staff must adhere to in their role – and outlines our expectations of strong leadership.

“Most importantly I want to reassure people that Gloucestershire Constabulary is protecting our frontline services, meeting the needs of all our communities and keeping them safe. Today I can give you that reassurance at a time when we’re also having to make some difficult decisions about how we use our limited resources.

“Our vision is that all crime will be investigated, and that we ensure we use our police powers to be relentless in pursuit of perpetrators. We want to protect all our communities so they feel safer.

“The GRIP is a response to careful and considered analysis of our current levels of performance and crime, with a focus on specific priorities. My Chief Officer Group and I are confident it will address some of our most pressing challenges and provide the foundations for long-term transformation, particularly in improving our ICT.”

Neighbourhood policing model

The launch of the GRIP coincides with the introduction of a new Neighbourhood Policing model which will include our reshaped Crime Prevention team, and our Rural Crime officers.

T/CC Blyth said: “From April we’ll be investing in additional police officers across the county, in both urban and rural areas, and we’ll be reducing the numbers of PCSOs.

“Police officers have powers to detain people and are trained to deal with a range of challenging situations so, in having more on the streets of Gloucestershire, we can respond to and investigate crimes that people are most affected by.

“Community engagement remains a vital part of Neighbourhood Policing. The significant number of PCSOs we’ll be retaining will be integral to this as a valuable link with residents, businesses and other partners.

“Having the right resources in the right place is crucial if we are to improve our services, so we are also transferring some police officers into our Crime Command to help our investigative capability, and to focus on neighbourhood crime, and public protection services - our child protection teams in particular.”

Taking difficult financial decisions

We anticipate extra funding from the Government as part of its Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee; however, this will be ring-fenced for Neighbourhood Policing, so it won’t assist us with the savings we need to make.

T/CC Blyth said: “In an ideal world, we’d rather not make any redundancies but as a public service we must continually review how we spend our limited funds and make objective decisions to ensure our communities get value for money. We’ve shown what we can achieve though a consistent and focused approach to our budget by making £3.3m worth of savings in this financial year.

“Unfortunately, in addition to making up to 60 police staff posts redundant over the course of the year, we have also made the decision to transfer our mounted capability to West Midlands Police.

“The practical arrangements of this transfer are still being worked through to ensure this important and specialist resource is maintained across policing and is still available to us and other when they’re needed. Our Mounted officers will be redeployed elsewhere in the Constabulary.

“The next 12 months are going to be tough, and involve some really difficult choices. As painful as these decisions are – and we know they will have an impact on individuals and teams – they are the only way we can ensure the Force’s long-term financial stability.

“While we won’t shy away from making difficult choices, I’m confident the decisions we’re making now will best protect our frontline services and ensure we’ll be able to continue to provide the operational services our diverse communities need at a cost we can afford.”