People will see more police on the beat and in communities thanks to Lord Willy Bach’s police budget for 2019-20.
Lord Bach, Leicestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), presented his budget, including the proposals for the amount raised by the local council tax, to members of the Police and Crime Panel earlier today to unanimous approval.
The budget for policing Leicestershire in 2019/2020 has now been set at £187.1M, an increase of £10.88M (6.2%) over the previous year. Of this, £72.5M will be raised via the local policing precept on the council tax.
Last week the Government confirmed that it expected Police and Crime Commissioners to increase the amount of council tax paid towards policing by £24 for a Band D household in 2019-20, when it announced its final policing settlement.
Welcoming the Panel’s support Willy Bach said: “People want to see more police in communities and this budget will enable us to recruit 107 extra officers. This is the first time we have been able to recruit such a significant number of new officers and it will make a real difference.
“But this is only happening due to an increase in the police portion of the council tax and a hefty chunk from our Reserves. I’m grateful for the public support I have received for the increase, but I’m absolutely determined that people will see greater police visibility from their investment.
“It is hugely disappointing that the Government expects local people to pay more towards policing but frankly, it would be irresponsible not to raise the police precept by the expected amount.
“Local people are now paying the price for years of austerity and sadly even this will not solve all the financial challenges. Of every additional £24 raised, £14 will be used to pay for rising costs and overheads, leaving just £10 to invest in new resources. To protect our plans in the future I have agreed to use money from our reserves over the next four years.”
The Commissioner has also agreed to invest £5.1m from reserves over the next four years to support the budget going forward.
Budget highlights:
- 60 patrol officers based in the eight neighbourhood police areas
- 24 new detectives based in the neighbourhood police areas
- 8 new beat officers placed in the proactive teams dealing with current and emerging issues in each of the neighbourhood areas
- 8 new officers to tackle emerging crime on a proactive basis
- 7 new officers to focus on the crime that impacts upon the most vulnerable in our communities
- Increased time in which frontline officers spend on the beat
- Maintaining PCSOs numbers at 181
- Investment in technology
- More support for Volunteers in Policing
- Measures to speed up recruitment to the new posts
- Improving the quality of crime recording
The amount of council tax paid towards policing by a Band D household will, if the Panel approves the Government’s anticipated increase in precept, rise from £199.23 pa to £223.23pa. The amount people will pay in other bands can be seen in the table below.
|
Precept by Band
|
£
|
|
Band A
|
148.82
|
|
Band B
|
173.62
|
|
Band C
|
198.43
|
|
Band D
|
223.23
|
|
Band E
|
272.84
|
|
Band F
|
322.44
|
|
Band G
|
372.05
|
|
Band H
|
446.46
|
The full report can be downloaded here: https://www.leics.pcc.police.uk/Planning-and-Money/Finance/Budget-Information/Budget-2019-2020.aspx
Ends
Sallie Blair
Better Times
Telephone 01283 821012
Posted on Friday 1st February 2019