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Police are branded scrooges over cuts to PCSOs’ wages

James Crisp
22/11/2006

A COUNCILLOR has branded Cheshire Police "Scrooges" after they decided to cut their community support officers' salaries by up to £2,000 a year at a time when they are desperate for new recruits.

The decision to drop PCSO salaries down from scale five (£18,507 - £20,214) to scale four (£16,203 - £17,967) was taken by an evaluation panel made up of specially trained police staff and officers earlier this month.

Now Poynton Parish Councillor Lawrence Clarke fears that the move, taken at the height of a drive for new PCSOs, will discourage recruits and make it hard to keep hold of existing officers.

PCSOs have the small comfort of knowing that their pay will be ring-fenced at current levels for the next four years and that their union UNISON will lodge an appeal this January.

He said: "In Poynton, we have two PCSOs part funded by the council and another two to come.

"I would be interested to see if these savings were passed onto us.

"I am surprised by this news. PCSOs have been a success in Poynton and I think this will cause problems with retention and recruitment of staff. The timing isn't great either - it seems Cheshire Police are being quite Scrooge-like."

Chris Dilworth, Head of Resourcing for Cheshire Police, said PCSOs were given the scale five pay in 2003 partly because they had the power to detain with reasonable force.

He said that power had never been taken up in the county and would now not be.

For principally that reason, the panel decided the PCSOs should drop a scale - although if they were given more powers, their salary would be re-evaluated.

He added: "We have had no resignations as yet and hopefully we won't have.

"Our PCSOs are the best paid in the North West and their salaries are still competitive and comparable with other forces."