The equine members of the Gloucestershire Constabulary mounted branch are to move to the West Midlands as the unit is to close – as the force aims to save £12.3m in the next year.
H&H reported in 2021 that the branch’s future was in doubt as the office of the police and crime commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson had commissioned a review into its future. In December 2021, Mr Nelson backed the case to keep the mounted unit, which had six horses at the time.
But on Tuesday (25 March) the force set out new plans for “financial and organisational stability”.
“In Gloucestershire, we need to save £12.3m over the next 12 months,” a spokesperson said. “The force is taking decisive action, and there will be some difficult choices ahead.”
Temporary chief constable Maggie Blyth said: “Most importantly I want to reassure people that Gloucestershire Constabulary is protecting our frontline services, meeting the needs of all our communities and keeping them safe. Today I can give you that reassurance at a time when we’re also having to make some difficult decisions about how we use our limited resources.”
She added: “In an ideal world, we’d rather not make any redundancies but as a public service we must continually review how we spend our limited funds and make objective decisions to ensure our communities get value for money. We’ve shown what we can achieve through a consistent and focused approach to our budget by making £3.3m worth of savings in this financial year.
“Unfortunately, in addition to making up to 60 police staff posts redundant over the course of the year, we have also made the decision to transfer our mounted capability to West Midlands Police.
“The practical arrangements of this transfer are still being worked through to ensure this important and specialist resource is maintained across policing and is still available to us and others when they’re needed. Our mounted officers will be redeployed elsewhere in the constabulary.”
A spokesperson for the force told H&H West Midlands Police will appoint an independent vet to conduct health checks on the horses.
“The horses and their welfare are of paramount concern to the constabulary,” he said.
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