Plans to outsource civilian police services

Three of our region's police forces have now agreed to look more closely into the possibility of outsourcing their civilian services to the public sector.

The security company G4S wants to take them on but only if Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire all come on board.

Hertfordshire Police Authority agreed to look more closely at the company's business plans at a meeting earlier this week.

Today colleagues in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire agreed to go down the same route although neither entirely ruled out opting for a less radical option than full outsourcing.

Earlier this year G4S took over running civilian roles including scientific services and telephone reception in Lincolnshire.

Other county forces are sure to be watching how performance is affected over the coming weeks and months.

Unions including unison have warned that handing services over to a profit - driven company is likely to result in wide scale job losses and could lead to a drop in quality of service for the public.