The challenges being overcome by Devon & Cornwall Police to retain record officer numbers while balancing its budget

The reality of Devon & Cornwall Police failing to receive what had been hoped for in this year’s policing funding settlement awarded by the government means that behind the scenes, much work is being done to see how it can achieve savings of £10million.

To put that in context, it is around two per cent of the overall budget of £462million. While some police forces in England have had to cut back on police officer numbers to help towards balancing its budgets, this is not the case for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  

The force has retained its record number of 3,610 officers and plans remain on track for an extra 100 police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in neighbourhood policing roles. 

Last September, Chief Constable James Vaughan announced ambitious plans to get more officers back on the streets by reducing the number of senior ranks and returning officers to the frontline. 

The second phase of that work, called Op Resolve, will end in September and it will then move into its third and final stage, called strengthening. The intention is that by April 2027, an extra 60 constables will be on the frontline. 

Last Friday, March 27, a passout parade saw seven new PCSOs celebrate the completion of initial training, joined by family, friends and dignitaries at Devon & Cornwall Police headquarters in Middlemoor. Earlier this month, a passout parade was held for 18 new police constables. 

In contrast, today, March 30, around 130 new starters are being welcomed at Middlemoor to begin their training. These are made up of three cohorts – student police officers, PCSOs and around 20 transferees from other police forces – who will be welcomed by the Chief Constable. Student officers make up the main bulk of the numbers who will be in initial training for 24 weeks before being allocated to stations for 12 weeks to be mentored by experienced police officers.  

Alison Hernandez Police and Crime Commissioner Said " I am pleased to see that police officer recruitment within the force is striving to improve striving staff retention and strong leadership from the Chief Constable is continuing.  I would like to personally thank all of those who have worked so hard to ensure the frontline feels more supported. That particularly includes the ‘hidden heroes’ such as vetting, admin, HR and resourcing teams who are now processing applications quicker. 

This has all been achieved despite funding restrictions. The government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to recruit 13,000 additional officers by 2029 was scrapped this January. It provided funding to forces meeting headcount targets – which Devon & Cornwall was achieving. The grant has been replaced with ringfenced funding for neighbourhood officers instead.  

While this is welcomed, it has created a shortfall within Devon & Cornwall Police as money previously linked to the recruitment of extra officers has been reduced from £13.2m to £8.6m – a funding gap equivalent to the loss of 66 officers. 

I eagerly await the outcome of the government’s commitment to review the outdated and unfair Police Funding Formula which this year left Devon & Cornwall Police with one of the lowest government funding settlements for the size and scale of our area nationally and such a significant budget shortfall. 

Sadly, most local authorities have also not had appropriate settlements, especially because rurality and sparsity has not been taken into account. 

She added, This year, I have had to reluctantly ask council taxpayers to pay more to just help me maintain the high level of police officers while still having to find large savings elsewhere in the organisation. Considering nearly 85 per cent of the budget is staffing, it does not leave much room for manoeuvre. 

Maintaining record police numbers remains one of my top priorities and I know you’ll look forward to seeing the force’s new recruits out on the streets keeping our communities safe.