CHIEF constable David Kenworthy has hit back at his critics, saying the new force structure is working and staff are in good spirits.

Mr Kenworthy was speaking after several articles appeared in the Craven Herald, expressing concern at staff cuts and dwindling morale within North Yorkshire.

The comments come just four months after a massive shake-up of the force, under which Craven lost its divisional status and merged with Harrogate and Richmond to form the new western area.

Mr Kenworthy said: "The reorganisation has been successful, and will become even more so as the new structures settle down."

He added that he had no intention of withdrawing services from rural areas, and Craven was in an even better position than before, with five Local Area Policing (LAP) commanders fighting for the district.

"Even though there has been a lot of uncertainty, crime in the western area, and Craven in particular, is still going down."

Denying that staff were demoralised, he said: "Some staff are upset because they feel they have had a change of job forced on them. But, over the last four weeks, I have visited every police station in the force, and by and large, people are in good spirits."

Another bone of contention was the forecasted loss of 43 officers across the county due to a recruitment freeze. Many people feel this breaks a promise made to the public last October that there would be no reduction in operational staff.

Mr Kenworthy explained: "The loss of 43 officers is a budgetary decision, not a structural one. It has nothing to do with the reorganisation. I simply do not have enough money to recruit, and if we had not reorganised, we would have lost even more constables."

He added that because of unplanned retirements the target figure of 43 had already been reached, and he was looking at the possibility of bringing in "transferees" from other forces.

However, he admitted that the 43 posts would never be replaced, and there could be further casualties if the force's financial situation did not improve.

Its budget shortfalls are expected to top £4 million for the next two years, rising to £5 million in three years' time.

"I can't just let that creep up on me," said Mr Kenworthy. "We have got to plan so that we can maintain a service. With reorganisation we saved some money, but we did not get anywhere near to closing that gap. We have got to look at other ways to make savings."

He added that it was vitally important that resources were targeted at the right people and in the right places. "Once I know we are spending our resources and using people in the best possible way, I can go to the Home Secretary and ask for more money," said Mr Kenworthy.

He is also calling on the Government to fund the new radio project - at the moment the Police Authority is having to find the cash.

"The Government will make a considerable sum when it sells off the radio frequencies we use now, and it seems reasonable to me that it should help us to pay for the new radio system. If it did, it would release an enormous amount of money within the force which could be used for other things such as police officers."

He admitted that he could not run the force without the special constabulary - which was also subject to a recruitment freeze.

"We are having to revise our recruitment and training standards for the specials," said Mr Kenworthy. "These days they do the same job as a regular police officer, and therefore, they need the same equipment, the same training, and be recruited to the same standards.

"They do an incredible amount of work, and we are hoping to start recruiting again as soon as we can, possibly in October."

Mr Kenworthy also answered criticism over a reported underspend in his budget of £4 million.

He told the Herald that much of that money was already committed, and because it was a one-off occurrence, it could not be used to pay for extra police officers. "I have got to be able to pay them for 30 years," he explained.

In conclusion, he said he was satisfied that reorganisation had been the right way forward, despite losing three of his six senior officers within the first few weeks.

"We could not have sustained or justified the old management structure. It was too top heavy, and stifled innovation from below. We will be doing a full evaluation in six months' time to see what we have achieved."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.