Police spend £10,000 on head massages for stressed staff

Police spend £10,000 on head massages for stressed staff

Police are spending £10,000 employing head masseurs for "stressed out" staff at emergency call centres in Sussex.

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:09PM GMT 31 Dec 2008

The cost of the contract being tendered by Sussex police, which is currently short of 250 frontline officers, has drawn criticism from MPs and police union leaders.

Bidders were alerted to the advert in local press this week stating a contract was available for "onsite Indian head massage services to specific departments within Sussex Police".

Police chiefs said that the service was aiming to "to relieve the pressure" of answering phones at call centres.

Nick Herbert, shadow justice secretary, said: "This beggars belief. I cannot believe that public money is being spent on offering Indian head massages to police or police staff."

The MP for Arundel and the South Downs added: "At a time when the authority is telling us how strapped for cash they are, you have to question whether this is a responsible use of public money."

Brian Stockham, the chairman of the Sussex Police Federation, added: "This seems outrageous when there are so many more important things to apply money to in Sussex Police's budget.

"The force is really poor in helping people with mental issues and this is the main cause of long-term sickness, so if we have £10,000 to spend then this is where it should go - especially when Sussex Police is currently 250 officers short."

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said "This is a ridiculous waste of money that should be spent on fighting crime and protecting the public.

"If we want to reduce stress for police officers then the authority should start with abolishing red tape, not bringing in hippy remedies."

The £10,000 contract was put out to tender on Monday and masseuses have until January 9 to bid.

Chief Constable Martin Richards defended the plan. "This is nothing new in organisations where staff are employed in call handling work," he said.

"We recognise that out hard-working staff can be sitting in set positions at their desks for long periods taking calls and dealing with a variety of challenging issues.

"This service (Indian head massage) is a way of relieving pressure."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4044674/Police-spend-10000-on-head-massages-for-stressed-staff.html