Police forces and local authorities should streamline back office services to help save £545m, a group of senior police officers has warned.

Four major police bodies and the Home Office have set out recommendations that build on the government’s Policing White Paper on how police forces in England and Wales can make efficiency savings. This could include streamlining back office services and disposing of office space that it no longer needs.

Representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA), the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Home Office made the recommendations on how police forces could improve value for money. They include:

• Streamlining back office support services.
• Changing police shift patterns.
• Developing smarter procurement policies and finding cheaper IT solutions.
• Increasing the efficiency of systems and processes.

David Hanson, policing minister, is set to write to all chief constables and police authorities urging them to assess how the report’s findings can help them improve their efforts to maximise value for money.

“Funding for the police next year will increase by 2.7% to £9.7 billion and we have announced funding will be protected for front line services until 2013,” said Hanson.

He added: “This report is about the Home Office working with the police family to drive forward the reform agenda and supporting forces to use money where people want it spent – on the frontline.”

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, ACPO lead on finances and resources, said it was seeing savings by collaborating services jointly.

“The police service has been highly creative in making savings without impacting on our front line service and will respond positively to the recommendations in this report,” said Maxwell.

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