Cuts in government funding will bite with increasing severity over the next few years and all public sector bodies will have to make corresponding reductions in their services. We will soon feel the pinch.
Here are some initial indications of how this may effect you.
The Fire Service communication includes a survey. To help with their planning they are asking how much more you would be prepared to pay. (Your computer may show a strange symbol instead of the £ that they intended.)
Click here for more.
Dorset Police anticipate closures of enquiry offices, with the Wareham office "... forecast to remain for the forseeable future".
Dorset Police Enquiry Office Review
– 8th November Consultation meeting
This review
is part of the one team restructuring programme.
The budget
will be reduced by 18 million over the next four years. The budget (central
government grant) for these 4 years is 120million/annum. The cuts will be in
management and office staff to try not to affect front line services.
The enquiry office provision costs 1.7 million the majority of these
costs are human resources. Need to make cuts in this provision.
How do people contact the Police? Contact by phone has increased but the
contact to offices has decreased but there is still a need for front office
function.
Wareham
enquiry office. There are 7.4 visits per day – 2 visitors are police
generated, the remainder non-police generated. This is a similar picture across
all rural areas.
Wareham will have a single crew. This may be one full time member of
staff or two part-time. The planned opening hours will be 9am – 5pm OR 10am –
6pm Monday –Friday OR Tuesday – Saturday. There would be no enquiry office
provision whilst the member of staff has a meal break. This is similar to the
current provision. The new opening hours will be implemented from 1st
April 2012 (new financial year). The Wareham enquiry office will remain for the
foreseeable future.
