PLANS to reduce police officer numbers in Inverclyde have today been branded a ‘charter for criminals’ after it was revealed that 17 posts are set to be axed from the division.

Chief Superintendent Laura Waddell, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire’s divisional commander, told members of Inverclyde Council’s police and fire scrutiny panel that over a dozen vacant posts under her remit were set to go.

The move comes amid national concerns about police officer numbers, which are already at their lowest level since the creation of Police Scotland.

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It has recently emerged that the force could cut 600 officers and 200 staff in the new year in response to growing financial pressures.

Members of Inverclyde Council’s police and fire scrutiny panel are now set to write to the Scottish Government to express concerns about the impact budget cuts will have on the force serving the district.

Councillor Robert Moran, who pushed for the letter to be written, told the Tele: “The bottom line is we cannot afford to lose any more policemen and women.

“We’re in a situation now where I think as a society we’re struggling and more cutbacks to the police is just not acceptable.

“That’s why I said at the meeting that I wanted the committee to write to the minister for justice to say we did not accept these cuts. We should be doing everything in our power to oppose them.

“We as local politicians and as members of the community shouldn’t be standing by and saying we can accept this.

“Inverclyde is quite a big place, it’s from Kilmacolm to Wemyss Bay, it’s not as if it’s a concentrated area.

“We really need as many policemen and policewomen available and on the beat as we can get.

“To say there’s going to be another 17 cut just doesn’t make sense.

“The only people that will be happy with this are the criminals."

The former provost praised the ‘phenomenal’ work done by local police but says he feels officers are working with their hands tied behind their back.

He added: “They’re getting fewer in number and their workload is getting bigger. It’s detrimental to their health as well.

“These cuts aren't fair on the communities we represent or the officers affected.

“At the end of the day it’s a charter for the criminals, we need to say enough is enough.”

Chief Supt Waddell told councillors at the meeting that while the 17 posts were set to go, a decision was yet to be taken on where reductions in Inverclyde would 'sit permanently'. 

Conservative councillor David Wilson, who chairs the panel, laid the blame for the cutbacks at the feet of the Scottish Government.

He said: “There is going to be a reduction of 17 policemen across Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, and I would imagine our share of that in Inverclyde will be seven.

“That is a significant number to take off the streets, to us it means a lot.

“The decisions they’re making at the moment will only see us through until March next year, what happens after that I don’t know.

“The Scottish Government is so overspent on its budget that it’s looking for savings everywhere.

“The reason for all of this with the fire service and the police [reductions in staffing numbers] is the fact that the Scottish Government capitulated, gave the junior doctors 15 per cent and the teachers 14 per cent.

“Effectively the police service and the fire service are paying for those settlements.

“Older, more experienced police officers will be retiring earlier and you lose that experience.

“We will get younger policemen, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you’ll lose that know-how.

“The impact is bound to be considerable, we’re down to just one manned police station now in Inverclyde and I'd hate to think there might be one stage where we couldn’t even cover that.”

In a statement which was issued through Police Scotland, divisional commander Chief Supt Waddell said: “Police Scotland is facing sustained levels of demand across the country but I want to reassure everyone who lives in the Renfrewshire and Inverclyde areas that we remain committed to dedicating our policing resources appropriately in order to tackle the offences that are identified as policing priorities for the division.

“As we have consistently highlighted over a period of months, hard choices are being taken to deliver effective policing within the funding available and action is being taken to achieve savings, co-ordinated through the Policing Our Communities programme.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Policing is a priority for this Government, which is why despite UK Government austerity, we have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17 and have invested more than £11.6 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 with £1.45 billion being invested this year.

“There are over 350 more police officers than in 2007 and around 1,480 new recruits have joined Police Scotland since the beginning of 2022. Scotland has more police officers per capita than England and Wales and higher pay ranges for officers at all ranks and high levels of investment over the last decade.

"Thanks to the recently agreed pay deal of a 12% increase over two years backdated to 1 April, officers in Scotland also continue to be the highest paid in the UK.”