Have your say on police precept rise to secure funding

The Government recently announced that Northumbria Police will receive central grant funding of £222.7million in 2018/19, which reflects government funding being maintained at the same level as 2017/18 – but only if the police precept is increased by £12 for band D properties.

If the precept is not raised by that amount, there will be a real-terms cut to Northumbria Police’s funding of up to £5.1million. This is in addition to government funding being reduced by 37 per cent since 2010.

People living in a band D property currently pay £98.33 per year in council tax for their police service. A £12 per year increase on that figure, as calculated by the Government, would mean an extra 23p a week.

Most residents in Northumbria have a band A property and for those, the increase would be 15p a week (£8 for the full year).

Email your views to en [email protected], with your address, by Friday, January 12.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird QC, said: “Once again, the Government is moving the burden of proper police funding onto council taxpayers through the police precept. The Government is telling me if I don’t increase the precept by the figure they have used in their funding formula, Northumbria will have less money in real terms to spend on priorities such as neighbourhood policing.

“Repeated government cuts have hit us hard since 2010, however, the Government is telling me that we must raise the precept or lose out. The increase would amount to 15p per week increase for a band A property or 23p a week increase for a Band D property, I am therefore asking local residents if they would be content with this increase in Northumbria”.