THE organisation which represents police officers in North Yorkshire has condemned Government plans for the future of forces which they say will lead to communities suffering and costs soaring.

Home Secretary Theresa May announced this week that she has accepted all the recommendations from a review of police pay and conditions carried out by former rail regulator Tom Winsor, which could allow civilians to be fast-tracked into senior roles and foreign police chiefs to join UK forces.

But Mark Botham, who chairs the North Yorkshire Police Federation, said the changes would “pave the way for the privatisation of the police service” and bring too much politics into policing.

The organisation says officers’ pay will be affected and the introduction of an “unsocial hours payment” for hours worked between 8pm and 6am will create additional costs and paperwork while reducing the ability of the police to be flexible.

Mr Botham also said officers would be unable to volunteer for posts which were not covered by the allowance as they would be left out of pocket, such as neighbourhood policing and CID posts, but chief constables would still be allowed to “force officers into these roles”, while it would also cause problems surrounding shift changes and will leave taxpayers with a larger bill when officers are seconded to other forces, such as during the Olympics.