PCC not in the real world over precept

OVER recent years we have witnessed local elected officials making severe cuts to our front line services whilst at the same time wasting tax payer’s money hand over fist on ridiculous schemes backed by excessive council tax rises.

The latest example of this comes from the Cheshire Police And Crime Commissioner David Keane, who recently announced that he was looking to recruit a deputy on a £50k salary to assist him in his duties.

This appointment would add to his existing team of 11, where for example the chief executive earns between £87k and £93k and the part time chief finance officer earns £40k.

Now we learn that the PCC has opened an online survey to gather the views of the public on yet again increasing the police precept.

In it, the questions are worded in such a way that effectively it says ‘unless you are willing to accept an above-inflation precept increase, I will cut the number of police officers’.

Also the proposed rise is played down by presenting it as a mere few pence a week per household, which of course if you are the PCC with a £75k salary then it is a modest rise.

However, back in the real world of low income families, and when added to the significant rise already proposed, it just means more families struggling to make ends meet to fund the excesses of budget setters who continually fail to operate within tight budgetary controls.

The new PCC ought to take a moment to reflect on the fate of his predecessor who was voted out of office by the general public after following a similar path of excessive precept rises and lavish spending in a background of falling crime.