There was enough cops on the ground for the Tory Conference , and who paid, we did the tax payer. Its amazing when Cameron is in town he gets what's he wants isn't it

cuts have to be made its a world wide problem,, any organization you ask is saying exactly the same no one likes cuts but there going to happen why wouuld the police be any different ? the police are very well paid and very few voluntarily leave,, its a very expensive service to run ,,so its ripe for swathing cuts,, the countries over paid some public sector but neglecting others ,, there now just trying to equalise things to balance the economy

What OCB command have done is ride rough shod over all its staff and imposing changes which do not actually improve service or alleviate any of the problems mentioned.
The changes implemented for the shifts have been put together by a member of the police support staff who in the main works 9-5 and is off every weekend, and funnily enough those changes to shifts just make his job easier.
Different depts within the OCB will work the same pattern irrespective of whether its needed.
OCB were short sighted when they split radio and call taking roles and rather than do a U turn and admit they got it wrong they now just want to dig a bigger hole.
GMP once prided itself on being a family friendly employer and again typical ACC response a 6 page document and a offer of help for those that need it. Blatant lie, no help being offered at all.
OCB have used the budget cuts as a smoke screen to implement ideas of individuals who seek only self advancement.

""Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett, Head of the Operational Communications Branch, said the changes would create greater efficiency.""

Lets have a change at HQ then and reduce the number of ACCs and perhaps make savings in company cars and allowances there .... which will create greater efficiency

Fruit Loom read the article, officers on the ground, officers on the ground, officers on the ground.Political parties DO NOT PAY the Policing costs, so you are wrong again there.Also of late people in Greater Manchester are waiting upto an hour for an emergency ambulance to arrive. At the conference if anyone travelled on the metrolink you saw 5 ambulances just parked up at conference, why? in case Eric Pickles ate too much.

newageoracle another piece of useless commenting, Its OK for Cameron to go running alone at 0630 hours then is it. kind of makes a mockery of everthing..

The cops who you saw at the Conservative Conference or any political party conference you see in Manchester for example brings in cops from all over Greater Manchester(Trafford,Tameside,Stockport,Wigan,Rochdale,Bolton and Bury), as well as cops from Merseyside, Cheshire and Staffordshire. You will have also noticed that a lot of the 'cops' stood on the cordons where actually PCSO's and they along with Motorway cops, traffic cops. Is it too much to ask that the present government can be afforded protection from the anarcists etc who can only use tactics such as storming buildings to get there point over. I might not agree with the Conservatives etc but as they were only in town for 6 days a little disruption is not too much to put up with is it?

Would you ban football too? As every Saturday in Manchester city centre and near the big grounds there are a couple of hundred cops to ensure that drunken yobbish football fans are kept in line.

I take it you think that we should leave the govenment (as much as we might dislike them) unprotected? One wonders what would happen if your political part was in power and there were a lots of different groups who would wish to attack you and your fellow MP's if you would have your conference in a local park and invite all the nutters in town to stop you holding your conference. Of course you wouldn't, you would be given the same protection as that are afforded Labour and the Conservatives.

Like all left wingers you complain about the cops doing their job, is it more the case that because they are doing their job that you and another load of left wingers can't attack the government? Strange that you don't use the system we have in this country and vote them out of councils, and government but that's too easy isn't it for left wingers. Shame you were never quite so load when Labour were in power. Mind you they were paying millions into your left wing unions etc so you were their slaves but you are so blind you can't see it.

700 call centre staff seems remarkably high. It would not matter how many people there are to take the calls if the staff on the street is insufficient to deal with those calls.

Grandma remembers when the Police actually used to attend to all calls.

It brings into doubt the competency of the the command structure.

Policing the Conservative Party conference is a complete red herring.

I remember when I worked in a Police station control room and we knew where you were and the area being talked about. We were in a divisional control room (one actually where you lived) so we didn't need to ask stupid questions about locations given by distressed people. We controlled 2 sub divisions on 2 seperate channels and at busy times even this was difficult. A fast pursuit or serious incident on one channel ties it up so according to Mr Wiggett this is more efficient than having another channel available to use.

John, I think you need to check your paperwork 2+2 equals 4 when I went to school. Not 3 as the Auth were told repeatedly today.

Mr Wiggett has stated they are not making any call-handlers or radio operators redundant, and are in fact recruiting more staff to the roles. One of the reasons for this is the almost mass exedous of staff from these roles. The staff turnover in the last 12 months has increased visibly. In the last 3 months, resignations of call handlers from just one of the 4 current control rooms (call centres in fact), is at least 10. Most have been fortunate to have been successful in relocating to other areas of the police force. This was pointed out to senior management who smuggly suggested it was because they were all on temporary contracts and opted for permanent status. These managers are walking round with their rose tinted glasses on. The reason for the sudden high turnover in staff is the way they are being treated. Also, one would ask why are staff on renewable 12 month contracts when you are short of staff?
The roles were split 2 years ago, along with the introduction of a new shift system, with little in the form of consultation with staff members, and no consultation at all with most of the staff who do not undertake radio roles. This caused an uneven work life balance with some weeks consisting of 60 hours working. Funnily enough this was done on one April Fools day, how appropriate.
During the following 2 years this has proved fatefull and at times farcical, with more and more pressure being placed on call handlers. No allowance was made for the reduction in call handling capability, resulting in more sickness due to stress. At the time of the split, there were 2 supervisors in each room, following the split another group of supervisers were required increasing supervision totals by at least 16, to cover the call handling aspect,(however there were fewer staff).
From this evolved the extreme monitoring and auditing of staff, with the introduction of a new phone system that required call handlers to input a "code" whenever they are not ready to take a call, resulting in yet more stress as over zealous supervisers chasing staff up when they went to the toilet! This system progressed to minute by minute monitoring, with every single minute of a shift having to be accounted for. Some Call Handlers have been handed printouts documenting every minute of a 10 hour shift, and being asked to explain what they were doing at various points of "not ready" or "logged off" times.
Excessive monitoring, shortage of staff, increased criticism and changes to policy and procedures suddenly being relayed to call handlers, sometimes days after taking effect all add to stress levels. All of these pressures have reduced staff numbers, and suddenly, senior management think it would be a good idea to again combine the roles, however temporary, asking, nay begging, radio operators to take overtime and come in to do some call handling. (de ja vu). These radio operators had different skills, not suitable for call hanndling 2 years ago. Stating call handling and Radio Operator roles are different and each have their own specific skills. Please, do not demean the value of call handlers by telling them they have to account for every minute of the day, ask the set number of questions for each type of "report" being taken, (not treating our residents as individuals there!), and ensure the 3 point salutation is used, by then asking radio operators to take calls saying that anyone can do it, and that they will not be subject to failed audit if they have failed to say "good morning/afternoon/evening, greater manchester police, how can I help you"....
Most staff have not been consulted, we have had no explaining of changes and have received no support whatsoever. The statement "you will be taking calls from Trafford", was made long before the required consultation process began. As was the statement that Leigh Control Room will close.
I ask Mr Wiggett, "When did you put a lot of effort into explaining the changes to staff and in making sure that there is support for staff through the change process" When you have attended Leigh control room you have been very, very selective in who you have spoken to. The statement "you are lucky to have a job" and "you could always apply to Tesco for a job" is one I and many have heard recently,