Sussex Police facing £17million budget gap next year

The news was shared by Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne during a performance and accountability meeting in November.

It follows this year's efforts to close a gap of more than £6m, something deputy chief constable Dave McLaren described as 'a challenge that has impacted right across every area of the force'.

Mr McLaren said this year's budget would be balanced thanks to 'difficult decisions' about overtime and how resources had been spent.

He said: "We've really struggled to recruit into some areas, which has been unfortunate on one hand but has meant that this year we have come in under budget, which has allowed us to balance for the year."

Looking at next year's problems, Mrs Bourne said inflation was 'the real killer'.

But whatever happened, the £17m would not be met 'without some significant changes'.

In the meantime a 'transformation programme' has been launched with Surrey Police, looking at ways the two forces could work together more.

Calling it a 'scoping exercise', Mr McLaren added: "We clearly want to continue to deliver the quality of service we deliver to people across Sussex.

"But, particularly in the back office and some of those collaborated spaces, we really need to look at doing things differently."

Mrs Bourne told the meeting that a suite of options was being finalised and it would be down to herself and Chief Constable Jo Shiner to look over 'some quite difficult decisions'.

She pledged that one area which would not be touched was PCSO numbers.