£215,000 overtime bill for police (From Gazette & Herald)

£215,000 overtime bill for North Yorkshire Police

12:42pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News

POLICE chiefs in North Yorkshire could face a £215,000 overtime headache – with the cost of the Olympics being blamed.

North Yorkshire Police has revealed it is currently on course to spill over its budget for additional hours worked by officers in 2012/13, despite having put measures in place to cut down on the bill. Figures, which have gone before North Yorkshire Police Authority, said the latest forecasts for the force’s financial performance this year estimated overtime costs would reach £2.154 million, with its budget for this area being £1.939 million.

A report said the cost of providing officers to help police the Olympics and the Paralympics this summer, as well as ensuring safety when the Olympic Torch Relay passed through the region, had contributed to the predicted overspill.

North Yorkshire Police hopes to draw in just over £1 million in “mutual aid”, paid to forces which provide assistance in other parts of the UK.

The report by the police authority’s business partner, Moira Hopwood, said the amount claimed would depend on the actual hours worked by its officers during the Games, full details of which have yet to be confirmed.