The Chief Constable has warned that this year will be the first in a decade when the Manx force will come in over-budget.

Gary Roberts revealed the funding pressures facing the police as he gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee this week.

Presenting his annual report in July, Mr Roberts said the constabulary is now effectively ’living hand to mouth’ and its resourcing is ’almost constantly stretched’.

Questioned about that comment, he told the PAC that the current Home Affairs Minister and his predecessor had warned that funding had been cut to a ’irreducible level’.

But he said: ’Tynwald can vote the constabulary whatever money it sought for it and I will produce a policing model according to however much money I was given. But the policing model I would create were the funding reduced would be entirely different than the one we’ve got.

’And the first thing to go would be neighbourhood policing. I would have balance to response the need to respond, the need to investigate and safeguard children and vulnerable young people and the need to deal with the things I’m required by law to do with what is really nice and important to have which is neighbourhood policing.’

He added: ’As things stand I would expect this will be the first financial year when I come over-budget for the first time in a decade.’

The Chief Constable said almost all of that was due to unfunded pay awards.

We take our financial responsibilities very seriously but we are living in a difficult set of circumstances.

He said the shortfall will felt, not necessarily now but in the years to come, in areas like succession planning and officer training and development.

Committee member Rob Callister MHK said that the force has 32 fewer officers than it had in 2011-12. ’How challenging has that been?’ he asked. Mr Roberts replied: ’We have done exceptionally well in the circumstances. I think we’ve done what the public expect us to do.’