POLICE chiefs breathed a 'sigh of relief' as anticipated cuts of up to 25 per cent were withdrawn from the Autumn Statement this afternoon.

Savings of £15m have been secured in Wiltshire Police since austerity began in earnest four years ago, and with the prospect of a further £10m of cost-cutting being demanded from central government, any further budget reductions were described as 'dangerous'.

Announcing plans to protect police budgets in this Parliament, Chancellor George Osbourne said: "Now is the time to back our police and give them the tools to do the job.

"There will be real terms protection in police funding. The police protect us, and we're going to protect the police."

Following a concerted campaign over recent months to prevent any further measures hitting police, Mike White, chairman of the Wiltshire Police Federation, said the announcement has been cautiously welcomed.

"It is a sigh of relief, but there is still work to be done, and there are still cuts coming," he said.

"I suspect this may be veiled, as we may find later, but we were expecting a 25 per cent cut."

"It must be remembered that there are still cuts that need to be made. We have still identified we have to make £10m in savings in Wiltshire, regardless of anything that was announced today.

"The sort of cuts we were expecting would have meant another £12m taken out of our budget. Wiltshire has already shown it can make those savings; it has been difficult in places and we have had to change the way we do things.

"Hopefully we are going into a phase where we can settle down a bit more and focus on our priorities. We do have concerns crime is rising, and we have written to our MPs this week to raise that issue.

"While in the last four years recorded crime has gone down, violent crime is up around 80 per cent. Along with sexual offences, that generally requires more face to face enquiries with victims and offenders.

"We are doing a review into how we do that, which should be available early next year.

"There has been a big campaign by the Police Federation, Chief officers and Police and Crime Commissioners setting out the dangers of making these cuts.

"We have had to hold our breath, but we now have to carry on. There are warning signs with certain types of crime rising and less resources, but with no additional funds being lost we are in a much better position."

Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: "The Chancellor’s announcement today is very welcome news. In fact, it’s a considerable relief. We had been braced to expect significant cuts.

"I am delighted that the Chancellor has recognised that this is not the right time to seek further savings.

"We now spend £5m less on policing Wiltshire and Swindon than we did in 2010. In that time costs have gone up with inflation, so the real cut has been considerably more.

"I was also very pleased that George Osborne has said the Government intends to give Commissioners greater flexibility to raise money locally through what we call the precept, or the police element of council tax.

"Historically our force has been under-funded and I will be looking carefully at the level of funding I need to protect community policing.

"I will also continue lobbying for a fairer share of national funding. I began the campaign to address the historic unfair funding of our Force in the summer and with the unanimous support of our local MPs I will continue to press the case.

"Meanwhile it is business as usual for us. We will continue to seek ways of operating more efficiently and effectively. This will include working closely with our council partners, and with the other South West police forces."

Sara Thornton, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair, said: “The level of police funding is determined by politicians; we present our operational requirements and professional judgment to inform their decision-making but the final decision rests with them.

“We are delighted on behalf of the public with the announcement made by the Chancellor that police budgets will not be cut over the course of this Parliament.

“We remain committed to the need to transform and reform policing. Our officers will need to be better connected, better equipped and better informed in the future to cope with changing demand. Better use of technology, more integration with other public sector partners and professionally qualified staff continue to be priorities.

“We will be doing things differently. There will be more collaboration among forces with more sharing of specialist units.

“The Chancellor is right when he says that we protect the public and he has therefore protected police budgets. We are grateful.”

Chief Constable Mike Veale said in a statement: ""I fully recognise that police officers and staff have an extremely difficult job to do on a daily basis to protect the public and ensure our communities are safe places to be. Therefore, I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement today that, on the face of it, there appear to be no further cuts in policing budgets in this Comprehensive Spending Review period. We will know further details on December 17th on how the policing budget will be allocated and whether there will be any reduction in the specific funding provided to police Wiltshire.

"Despite today’s announcement, I am committed to ensuring that we remain an efficient Force and continue to protect the most vulnerable in society, police our local communities and ensure that Wiltshire remains one of the safest counties to live, work and socialise in.

"I am clear about my responsibilities to deliver the Police and Crime Plan and how I will be held to account for the delivery of the policing service. In the coming weeks, I will be having conversations with the Commissioner to understand the operational implications following the Chancellor’s announcement.

"Wiltshire Police is already an extremely efficient Force, as recognised in a recent report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which highlighted some of the steps we have already made in providing a value for money service.

"We are gaining positive national attention about the way we deliver our services, which is testament to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of all our officers, staff and volunteers. Some of the steps we have taken include a hierarchy review, a huge investment in IT and strong partnerships with agencies including Wiltshire and Swindon Councils.

"Despite today’s announcement, the Force still remains in a challenging position on the back of the financial savings we have already made.

"We will have to continue to transform the service we provide. These changes are likely to be far reaching and necessarily extensive, and not only as a direct result of budget cuts. The profile of crime is changing and demand is increasing in new areas such as cyber crime, safeguarding children and dealing with the ever increasing number of vulnerable people who come to our attention -  and we also have to respond to increases in areas such as historical child sexual abuse. 

"The implications of these changes will clearly have a direct impact on our operational policing services. 

"It would be wrong of me not to refer to the ever increasing threat posed by those potentially engaged in terrorist activities.

"It is my view that one of the most important opportunities we have to combat these more sinister threats from organised crime groups is to maintain effective and sustainable relationships within our diverse communities, built upon a solid foundation of trust between the police and the public and enabled by strong neighbourhood policing. 

"Anything which dilutes that relationship between the police and our communities will have long term operational consequences.

"We will continue to modernise our service by focussing the leadership of the force on reducing bureaucracy, improving leadership, maximising technology and increasing and improving efficiency which we have already made significant strides towards, and I am confident that we are doing all we can to relentlessly pursue such opportunities within Wiltshire. 

"I maintain the view that collaboration, partnership and moving towards potential operational mergers to modernise the policing structures are essential to enable us to respond to changes in criminality, deliver efficiency, maintain and protect our important local policing activities and protect the roles of frontline officers and staff. 

"I will continue to advocate this position within the region and at a national level."