Extraordinary meeting called over PCSO cuts plan

Cheshire's police commissioner is to be questioned over how he proposes to protect the roles of PCSOs following the chief constable's decision to axe 60 posts.

An extraordinary meeting of the county's police and crime panel, which scrutinises the work of the police commissioner's office, will be held in Crewe on Friday.

The only item on the agenda is to seek "urgent clarification" from PCC Dan Price on steps he is taking to safeguard the roles and numbers of police community support officers across Cheshire.

Mr Price has said he was "disappointed" with Chief Constable Mark Roberts' decision to press ahead with proposals to reduce the number of PCSO posts from 87 to 27.

Shortly after it was announced, the commissioner issued a statement saying, while he could not interfere in operational policing decisions made by the chief constable, he had now put forward a funding solution that could potentially save 10 PCSOs.

Mr Price added: "Whatever happens, my commitment to a named PCSO or police officer in every neighbourhood remains unchanged."

"On top of that, those numbers will increase from 251 in April 2025 to 326 in 2026, which includes 51 new recruits, as a result of the government's neighbourhood policing guarantee."

Cheshire Police said it needed to save £13 million over the next four years and reducing the number of PCSOs would also allow it to redeploy warranted police officers into local policing teams.

The force confirmed last month the latest proposal from the commissioner was being considered.

The plan to axe up to 70% of the county's PCSOs has sparked an angry backlash.

MPs including Connor Naismith (Crewe & Nantwich, Lab) and Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury, Con) had raised concerns about it.

Both Cheshire West & Chester and Cheshire East councils recently backed motions calling on the force to reconsider the proposal.

Friday's extraordinary meeting of Cheshire's police and crime panel takes place at 10:00 GMT at Crewe Municipal Buildings.

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