Police are facing ruin from Labour's 'soft justice crimewave'

Labour's soft justice reforms will unleash a crimewave, pushing some forces to the brink of bankruptcy, warn police chiefs.

Top brass are bracing for reoffending 'horror stories' when resources become so stretched that predatory criminals are left roaming free.

Forces are preparing for a surge in all crime types across the country next year when the Government goes ahead with plans to jail fewer offenders by ditching shorter prison sentences and releasing inmates earlier.

The estimated bill for having to deal with thousands more criminals on the streets has doubled, from an extra £400million just a few weeks ago to £800million, according to the latest Home Office analysis.

The staggering sum will tip forces already in financial dire straits over the edge, chief constables have warned.

The head of the National Police Chiefs' Council Gavin Stephens has predicted that crime will surge by up to 6 per cent in just one year as a result of the proposed Sentencing Bill, putting the public and victims at increased risk.

One police source said: 'Police chiefs are despairing. Not one penny has been put aside for £800million policing costs and there seems to be no recognition from the Government of what is coming.

'More people will be released early at a time when the Probation Service is crumbling and forces are already struggling to balance the books.

'Some forces are genuinely worried about keeping the lights on next year, there are those that are already close to bankruptcy, this will push them over the edge.

'Shouldering an extra £800million of costs is unaffordable, forces are going to have to increase their investigation teams, their call centre staff, response officers, crime scene investigators to deal with all this.

'There could be some really disastrous consequences. Police chiefs are braced for some absolute horror stories in terms of reoffending next year, there will be some nasty cases.'

Chief constables have warned that forces will be so strapped for cash there will be a significant increase in investigation times and longer waits for 999 calls to be answered. 

Officer workload is set to rocket and there will be no one free to deal with some crimes, while proactive operations on issues such as organised crime will be ditched, police leaders say.

They are also warning that the reforms will endanger Government plans to halve violence against women and girls because offenders normally locked up for domestic violence and sexual offences are instead in the community.

At least two forces, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire, are already in financial peril and it is feared that the enormous cost of the sentencing reforms could push other smaller forces to bankruptcy.

External auditors have told Lincolnshire Police that it is at risk of having to issue a section 114 notice, declaring itself effectively bankrupt, if it does not receive a significant injection of extra cash. 

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The force has said it could be forced to scrap its entire neighbourhood policing team.

The situation has pitched the Home Office against the Ministry of Justice, with officials arguing that the Justice Secretary David Lammy's department should fund his reforms.

Last month the NPCC requested additional funds of £300-400million based on their own modelling that jailing fewer criminals would result in officers having to divert from other crimes to deal with reoffending. 

Since then, the Home Office has estimated that the real cost to policing will be £800million. 

But on December 18, the Government's funding settlement for police revealed that not a single extra penny had been set aside to cover the cost of the reforms.

The NPCC's finance chief, Norfolk Police Chief Constable Paul Sanford, told the Daily Mail that forces would have to make tough choices.

'It's fair to say we're concerned about the implications of the sentencing review.

'Some of the indicators that you might need to look at are longer times to answer the phone, extending lengths of investigations to deliver justice, reduced frontline visibility and the pullback of the sort of proactive activity that needs to be undertaken to disrupt things like serious organised crime.'

The Sentencing Bill is due to come into force next year.

A Government spokesman said: 'A final settlement with further detail on grant allocations will be published early next year, following the release of our Police Reform White Paper. 

'At the same time, we will continue delivering sentencing reform, alongside building 14,000 additional prison places and investing significantly in probation and electronic monitoring.'