TWO new jobs in the office of Cheshire’s Crime Commissioner will not be given to any of the 70 police staff slashed in budget cuts, the Warrington Guardian can reveal.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, has confirmed he is to spend more than £60,000 in creating two administrative posts on his personal team, as part of plans to improve services for victims.

He said the roles of commissioning officer, on £26,658 a year; and planning and strategy officer, on £37, 332 a year, were offered internally.

However, ‘no suitable candidates’ were found amongst the raft of civilian workers due to be sacked from Cheshire Police, so external recruitment was authorised.

Mr Dwyer said: “Before we advertised outside the organisation positions were offered internally but no suitable candidates were found.”

It means the commissioner will spend more than £760,000 a year on 15 staff at his Winsford HQ.

However, he says his office costs £100,000 a year less to run than the old Police Authority.

The new jobs are being funded by a £700,000 grant from Government aimed at improving services for victims, and not from the police budget.

Mr Dwyer will decide how to use the cash to help victims in areas such as emotional support and guidance on the court process.

He said: “This is extra work that my existing team would not be able to take on.

“Victims are very important to me as being a victim to crime is a horrendous experience.

“They should be treated in every way that gives the support and protections.

“I hope this will make us more efficient and save money.”

New recruits will be focused on helping to formulate how services can be best improved.

The commissioning officer will be charged with ‘finding the appropriate services to support victims and determine what services are already out there’.

The planning and strategy officer will ‘help find better ways to work with other businesses and forces’.

Adverts for both roles have now expired with candidates being shortlisted.

 

Unison, the union which represents police staff that are not officers, met with Mr Dwyer to discuss redundancies last year.

The commissioner has not decided which positions are to go, with a consultation due to take place Andy Rutherford, regional organiser said it will fight to stop compulsory job losses.

He said: “Unison will be supporting our members through this difficult time.

“We will work to avoid compulsory redundancies and minimise the negative impact on the service to the public.”