A DORSET police leader has warned that some cash-strapped officers could face losing their homes in the wake of the wide-ranging Winsor review of officers’ pay and conditions.

Police Federation chairman Clive Chamberlain said: “We already have officers experiencing financial hardship who have been referred for debt counselling.

“Like so many other workers, police officers come to work to provide a service but also to support their families, pay their mortgages and meet other financial commitments.

“They expect to be adequately and properly rewarded for the work they do.”

Stressing that the proposed cuts in take-home pay come on top of a two-year pay freeze, Mr Chamberlain also hit out at “spinners” who portray police officers as “overpaid money grabbers”.

He said: “Most decent people know the opposite is true. The ‘spinners’ will not have very much left to throw at us soon, as they have pretty much emptied their arsenal, they will have to resort to ‘police officers kill fluffy kittens’ stories and name-calling.”

Dorset police plans to axe 248 jobs by March next year in a bid to save £18 million over the next four years. More than 100 are expected to be police officer roles.

Yesterday the Winsor review of police pay and conditions in England and Wales called for the abolition of a series of allowances and special payments.

Half of the savings made would be ploughed back into payments for officers on frontline duties or who work anti-social hours but at least two in five officers are expected to be worse off with some losing up to £4,000 a year.

Meanwhile the Association of Chief Police Officers has predicted that 28,000 jobs will be lost across England and Wales as a result of the Government’s budget costs.

Dorset’s Chief Constable Martin Baker said: “Policing is a vocation that impacts on every aspect of the personal and professional lives of those who commit themselves to this complex and, as recent local events have shown, sometimes very dangerous role.

“This must be recognised through the provision of fair and appropriate terms and conditions of police officers and police staff.

“The force continues to work locally with the Police Federation, Superintendents’ Association and Unison to identify any potential hardship that might be cause to members.”

Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Annette Brooke said: “It is really important to recognise that police officers do a difficult job.

“We have a record budget deficit but the number one priority is that people should feel safe in their neighbourhoods and frontline policing is protected.

“I think we should take time to carefully reflect on the review’s conclusions.”

Dorset Police's overtime bill is one of the lowest in the country, at 3 per cent of the total wages bill or £2,600. Overtime per officer works out at £1754 per year.

Hampshire pays £2,159 in overtime per officer per year, or 4.3 per cent of its wage bill.

(Figures courtesy of this chart at the Guardian.)

KEy Points

Tom Winsor's review includes a summary of his main recommendations as outlined for police officers.

They are:

• For police staff, time and a half and double time pay for weekend day working to be abolished;

• National on-call payment of £15 per day for officers to be introduced. Also to apply to officers held in reserve;

• Maternity pay for officers extended from 13 to 18 weeks (a mid-service constable would receive approximately £2,360 more);

• Motor vehicle allowance should be restored to local authority rates;

• New system of medals and awards for hard-work and bravery of police officers, staff and specials.

• No compulsory redundancy;

• Chief officers and superintendent bonuses suspended;

• Competence related threshold payments (CRTPs) abolished;

• Special priority payments abolished;

• Increments frozen for two years (at 2010/11 levels);

• Overtime to remain but rates changed, as do qualification periods. It will only be paid for hours worked;

• You choose when you take your bank holiday leave;

• Unsocial hours to be paid at an extra 10% of basic pay to officers for every hour worked between 8pm and 6am (a long-service 24-hour response constable on a standard rotating shift could receive approximately £1,450 per year);

• A new Expertise and Professional Accreditation Allowance (EPAA) of £1,200 to be paid to detectives, firearms and public order officers qualified to the appropriate levels as using those skills. The allowance to be paid to neighbourhood police officers who have been in post for at least three years