Jobs axed at police centre (From Free Press Series)

Jobs axed at police centre

THE Police Training Centre in Cwmbran is to close with the loss of up to 40 jobs, it was announced on Thursday.

The centre employs 40 civilians and 32 police officers.

It was announced it will close, along with two other police training centres, in May 2006.

A spokesman for Centrex, the Central Police Training and Development Authority, said Centrex will do all it can to redistribute workers to other centres. But with three centres closing it is unlikely many jobs will be saved this way.

The centre trains police officers from nine forces, including Gwent Police. Its closure is a result of a change from the current residential training programme to a new training scheme offered locally. In future, forces, including Gwent Police, will train officers in-house.

Centrex's police training centres at Ashford in Kent and Bruche, near Warrington will also close.

The new training scheme, the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme, is being developed by the Home Office.

The principles of the IPLDP are that the main responsibility for the training of new officers should rest within forces. Officers will be trained within the communities they will serve, with less emphasis on long periods of residential training.

Due to the move to localised training there is a reduced demand for central training sites such as Cwmbran. The centre will continue to deliver the current probationer training programme until it finishes at the end of May 2006.

A spokesman for Centrex said: "Centrex entirely supports the philosophy of IPLDP and is working to support forces through transition to full implementation."

Norman Bettison, chief executive of Centrex said: "This decision has been taken in full consultation with the Home Office and ACPO.

"We have informed our staff today in order to give everyone time to consider their future plans and will be working through a formal process of notification over the coming months.

Centrex staff and seconded officers have been responsible for training literally tens of thousands of new recruits. They have done a marvellous job and I am very proud of what we have achieved. it is regrettable that some staff will not longer be engaged in their current role."