THE Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire has been given the green light to increase the police’s council tax precept by £12 a year (for an average Band D property).
The increase, a rise of 6.25per cent, is equal to an extra £1 a month on council tax and takes the entire police precept on a Band D home to £203.98.
Backing for PCC Philip Seccombe’s proposals came from the Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel and follows a four week public consultation which showed 70 per cent of respondents were in favour of increasing the precept by the maximum amount allowable to safeguard frontline police officer posts.
The increase will be effective from April 1, 2018.
Speaking after the meeting Mr Seccombe said: “The results of my recent public consultation have shown that a majority of local taxpayers are prepared to make an extra contribution to pay for policing, provided it is invested in safeguarding front line services here in Warwickshire.
“People overwhelmingly want to see more visible policing and for police officer posts to be protected. My budget and medium term financial plan seek to do just that and I will be investing the additional monies raised through the increase to the police precept into police officer posts here in Warwickshire. These are posts which might otherwise have had to be lost were it not for this vital injection of funding.”
Warwickshire Police Chief Constable Martin Jelley said: “I recognise this extra funding will not resolve all our longer term financial challenges and we will need to continue to seek to be as effective and efficient as we can.
“This is, however, a very welcome increase in funding which will allow me to reinvest in Operational Policing, securing around 50 police constable posts which would otherwise have been impossible.
“This will be achieved by increasing the number of constable recruitment intakes we had planned and by opening up to accept some transferees from other forces. While these posts will not appear overnight, they will filter through as the year progresses and will be very welcome additions to Warwickshire Police.”
