Today (Friday 6 January 2012), Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) has agreed that from Tuesday 10 April 2012, 22 of 55 Public Enquiry Counters will remain open to the public across Greater Manchester.
These include four public enquiry counters in Manchester, including one in the city centre which will be open 24 hours a day, and two in each remaining borough.
The changes will save the Police Authority and the Force almost £1.5M and follows a comprehensive review undertaken by GMPA and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) which revealed a dramatic fall in the number of people visiting police enquiry counters.
More than 2.500 people have taken part in a consultation exercise to have their say on the plans and help shape public access to police services in the future.
The Force has also undertaken a formal 90-day statutory consultation with staff and Unison about the changes.
Due to voluntary redundancies and requests from some staff to reduce their working hours, it is anticipated that no compulsory redundancies will be issued to staff currently working at public enquiry counters.
Cllr Paul Murphy, Chairman of GMPA, said: "After listening to the views of the public and staff and reviewing the results of the demand analysis, we are confident that GMP can continue to provide a face-to-face service that meets the needs of the public with 22 enquiry counters open to the public.
"As part of our plans to find savings of £134M by 2015, we need to ensure that we concentrate our resources where they have the biggest impact so that our communities receive an efficient, effective police service."
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: "Neighbourhood policing remains at the heart of what we do and we will continue to provide contact locally with officers at neighbourhood meetings and surgeries, arranging appointments and getting in touch by telephone, email or through social networks. We will continue to listen to the views of our communities to help shape the future delivery of policing in Greater Manchester."
This page was last updated on 6 January 2012