TIM DREW: Efficiency key in face of ongoing budget cuts

A focus on maximising efficiencies in the face of ongoing police budget cuts and the need for police engagement officers to engage with Neighbourhood Watch were among the main topics discussed at last Wednesday's meeting of Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation.

Assistant Chief Constable Laurence Taylor was present, and we are all the more grateful for his attendance after the tragic events in Westminster earlier that day. ACC Taylor said £50miliion had already been cut from the police budget leading up to 2015 and another £42million of savings had to be made, of which £29million consisted of cuts to the local policing budget over the next four years.

A local policing programme, with a more resilient model, is being developed with this in mind and is set to be launched in June.