Council tax will rise by up to £21 to fund police and mayor

COUNCIL tax bills are set to go up by £21 a year to fund new police officers and the Greater Manchester mayor.

The M.E.N. revealed last week that a brand new precept was being proposed to fund costs directly related to Andy Burnham’s position.

The mayor’s office has now confirmed that the charge will be introduced, while announcing the region’s police precept will also be hiked from April by the maximum amount.

As a result Band D properties will be charged £21 extra annually, while for Band B households, which make up the largest percentage of Greater Manchester homes, the rise will be £16.33.

Those increases do not include likely rises to the town hall element of council tax, however – which are yet to be set by individual authorities.

Mr Burnham’s office and the 10 Greater Manchester leaders have been discussing plans for the region’s police and fire precepts since last year, as well as the new mayoral charge.

Sources said last week that the mayoral element – which will pay for a range of functions including rewriting the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, a new transport masterplan and the costs of running Mr Burnham’s office – was likely to be around £10 for a Band D property, but a figure of £9 was eventually settled upon.

The proposed police increase, which would raise £8m and add a further £12 to Band D bills, will be spent on recruiting 50 new officers, protecting the PCSO workforce and improving the non-emergency 101 number, according to Mr Burnham. No increase to the household charge for the fire service is proposed. The mayor’s office has not yet published its detailed budget papers for April, which are due to be discussed by leaders on Friday and will include the precept proposals.