EXCLUSIVE: Met Police admits it will do 'less with less' in fight against organised crime due to chronic vacancies

New Scotland Yard plans to use more civilian staff and retiring detectives to combat the most serious criminals as it desperately tries to plug chronic vacancies.

The dire state of the Metropolitan Police force's ability to combat serious and organised crime is laid bare in a leaked memo to staff from one of its most senior officers, in which he says the force will "do less with less" in its fight against organised crime.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward (above) told detectives on the force's Specialist Crime Command (SCC) it is likely to face a major restructure within weeks even if the force is able to plug a predicted £450 million financial black hole by the end of this month.

It will involve employing more non-police staff and encouraging retiring detectives to stay as the force also sets up an "engine room" to manage cuts across the whole of New Scotland Yard.

His boss Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (below) warned on Tuesday, in a report to the London Policing Board, that up to 2,300 officers and 400 civilian staff could have to go if more funding is not secured from the Mayor of London and Home Office in talks due to end this month.

"Worst case scenario" changes he outlined included cutting the Flying Squad by a fifth and removing their armed capability, reducing the number of historic crimes investigated and worryingly scaling back the ability to tackle serious violence and organised crime by cutting teams that target the most harmful offenders.

It could also mean an end to at least one 24/7 public front counter in each borough command unit and the loss of dedicated officers in schools to deter children from the clutches of street gangs and county lines drug dealers.

Yet, Mr Ward had earlier sent an internal memo, seen by Essex News and Investigations, to SCC officers warning that a restructure was likely to be imminent regardless of the outcome of funding negotiations.

It is due to its already chronic vacancies with murder investigation teams across the capital already down by ten per cent and specialist officers having to be seconded to Operation Northleigh, the criminal probe into the Grenfell Tower disaster.

He warned the force would be "Scaling back our ability to tackle serious violence and organised crime by reducing the size of centrally based proactive teams by 15 percent (with a proportionate reduction in covert policing) and restructuring Specialist Crime."

He added: "Flying Squad officers will no longer be armed but will be supported by other armed units and will be reduced in size by 20 percent."

These tough choices come on the back of a really challenging 18 months for Specialist Crime that has also seen the impact of detective sergeant and detective constable rotations, ten percent Murder Investigation Team reductions, loss of posts to formally establish Op Northleigh, and the fact that almost all of our teams have been operating with significant vacancies for a considerable period of time.

"Because of these challenges we had already begun a plan to restructure Specialist Crime so that we could continue to operate with fewer people into the future – i.e. we have been planning for a serious organised crime world where we do less with less - but we still do the less better than anybody else. 

"As a result of the potential ‘tough choices’ decisions and tight financial timelines, our plans now need to be accelerated.

"Therefore, I am looking to have final plans agreed within Specialist Crime by the end of 2024, to be approved by the Management Board in the New Year and to start implementation from April 2025."

A Met source said: "If this happens it will lead to a real dent in our ability to tackle street gangs and organised crime. The schools officers have been an important part of identifying at risk pupils who could be exploited by gangs for stuff like county lines.

"Serious and organised crime is on the rise so cutting from these units would be disastrous and it would be a great time to be a criminal."

Under Mr Ward's proposed restructure the three organised crime units based in the north, south and the Met's headquarters would be merged into two, with a Major Inquiries Command, focused on homicide and major investigations, and a Specialist Proactive Command, to cover the functions of Specialist Crime proactive operations and its central HQ into a single unit.

He added: "We would retain a Central Specialist Command, focused on tackling London’s most complex crimes including exploitation, economic and cyber crime whilst looking at opportunities to streamline functions.

"We want to civilianise a not insignificant proportion of our workforce and will work with HR and others to use this opportunity to attract and retain the skills and experience of retiring officers."

A number of intelligence and digital investigation units will be merged "to streamline our tasking priorities against our control strategy to provide greater clarity and consistency on where we will and will not focus our scarce resources," he added, warning "things will be developing rapidly over the coming weeks."

He said: "You may soon hear the phrase ‘the engine room’ – this is management consultant speak for a central project team that will be making sure all of the Met’s ‘tough choice’ decisions are delivered on time."

It comes as an anti-corruption charity warned the National Crime Agency, which combats the most serious organised criminal countrywide, was “on its knees” due to recruitment, retention, progression and pay issues, with almost one in 10 of its roles unfilled.

The Met is also considering selling off more buildings, in a bid to boost its coffers, despite losing 124 of its once 160 police stations since 2008, a spokesman for London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned.

A Met spokesperson said: "We are still awaiting our final funding settlement - so no decisions are final.

"We have been clear on the financial challenges we face and continue to have productive discussions with The Mayor and Home Office to ensure we have the resources to police London effectively.

"We are communicating to officers and staff to be transparent, clarify speculation and prepare them for the work needed to ensure delivery of any of the tough choices we may have to make ahead of our final budget being confirmed."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The Home Secretary has announced an increase of over half a billion pounds in central government funding for policing, including over £260 million for the core grant and additional resources for neighbourhood policing, counter-terrorism and the NCA. Further allocation of police funding will be confirmed in the police settlement in mid-December".