By IRNA,
London : The outgoing Permanent Secretary at the Home Office has defended the British government plans to cut the police’s counter terrorism budget, insisting that it was not dangerous.
But giving evidence to the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, Sir David Normington admitted that some police forces could find other cuts aimed to address the country’s record deficit “tough.”
The government is cutting police funding by 20% over four years and various forces have warned of thousands of front-line job losses. But Normington said he did not know what the impact will be.
With regard to the 10% cut in real terms to the counter terrorism budget by 2014-5, he told MPs on Tuesday that police counter-terrorism grants had increased sharply since 2006 and police chiefs had agreed efficiencies could be found.
The Home Office’s top civil servant said the 10% cut was less than the cuts faced by police generally and it had been agreed with Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who is in charge of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, that efficiencies could be made.
‘I am absolutely confident that we are providing the money, that the 10% reduction does not seriously impact on our ability to counter terrorism,’ he said.
‘I’m confident that these reductions can be made without making an impact on lives and so on. We wouldn’t, I wouldn’t, have been party to a settlement which cut the counter terrorism budget in a way that was dangerous,’ he also said.
Among cuts so far, Britain’s second biggest regional force, Greater Manchester Police has announced a 23% reduction in staff, split between the axing 1,387 officer and 1,557 civilian posts he next four years to save £134m from the force’s budget.