Police cost increases will 'maintain' numbers
An increase in what people will pay for the police service in County Durham will maintain the number of officers on the streets, says the area’s Police and Crime Commissioner.
Joy Allen has confirmed there will be a 6.2% increase on the policing portion people’s Council Tax – equating to £15 a year for a Band D property. The PCC says the move is critical if she is to maintain police officer and community support officer numbers at their current levels of 1,363 and 146 over the next 12 months, while also covering rising fuel prices, energy costs, inflation, vehicle maintenance and essential new equipment from the budget.
More than half (52%) of the 1,200 people who responded to the Commissioner’s recent budget survey supported increasing the precept either by £15 or £20.
The Commissioner hit out at the Government funding formula – saying the £15 increase in Durham will raise £2.6m, but, in neighbouring North Yorkshire, it will secure £4.5m.
She said: “Until the Government reverses its outdated and inadequate funding formula and outlines a plan that will deliver consistency, counties like Durham will continue to suffer and stagnate in the shadows of their neighbours.
“I am not asking for special treatment, just for a levelling up of support that recognises our unique problems and puts us in the same playing field.
She added: “If the Government is going to insist on burdening taxpayers with higher bills to meet the gaps from central funding, then it needs urgently to level up or else trigger wider inequalities than those that already exist.”