NORTH Yorkshire Police have used up more than 40 per cent of their financial reserves in the last seven years.
Figures released by the government this week showed the force has used £11.9m since March 2011, or 42.3 per cent of its reserves - more than double the average for police forces in England and Wales of 19 per cent.
The force currently has £16.2m in reserves, £6.5m of which is designated as 'earmarked reserves' - to be used for unexpected expenses - and £9.7 marked as a 'general fund'. The force also has £1.5m in 'capital reserves', which will be held for long-term projects or anticipated expenses.
This week, the government also announced plans to make all Police and Crime Commissioners publish details of their reserves and future financial plans for the funds on their websites, including details of current and future planned reserve levels and what the funds would be spent on, to ensure the public can understand how the funds are used.
Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, said the reduction of the force's reserves by almost half was not a concern, and the reserves would go towards ongoing plans to improve mobile technology for frontline officers.
She said: "As you would expect we have a clear plan for our reserves in the future. This includes modernising the police service with investments in IT, giving our officers the tools to be truly mobile and improving response to 999 and 101 calls from the public.
"My number one priority is to ensure the public get a good service from their police force. Whilst prudent reserves are a necessity, excess levels of reserves contribute little to frontline policing, other than making those in charge feel comfortable that they’ve got some money stashed away. This is taxpayers money, raised for policing and it should be spent on just that."