£15 on council tax will buy 83 more police officers
TAXPAYERS are set to give Derbyshire police £15 extra in the coming year in a bid to recruit 83 new officers, improve drones and build new police stations.
The extra officers will partially make up for those lost since 2010 in Government budget cuts.
Derbyshire Constabulary, with 83 additional officers, would have 1,918 bobbies, still nearly 200 short of the 2,100 it had before austerity measures were brought in. The force predicts it will still be 77 officers short of its 2010 officer numbers by 2024.
Derbyshire council taxpayers in Band D properties are set to see their chunk of tax set aside for the police increase by 6.62 per cent, to a total of £241.60 for the financial year 2021 to 2022.
The police precept is only around 10 per cent of the overall council tax bill, most of which goes to the county or local councils, such as Derbyshire Dales District Council for people living in the Ashbourne area. Other portions go to the fire and rescue and in some areas town and parish councils.
Its budget also sees the temporary employment of 20 further police community support officers (PCSOS), taking their numbers to 199.
There are also plans to spend £12 million on a new police base in the north west of Derbyshire and £11 million in the north east of the county – discussions over land acquisition are under way for both.
The bases are to prove the “constabulary’s commitment to policing this important part of the county, ultimately improving visibility and providing a secure basis from which to address future threat and risk”.
Police buildings and property are deteriorating, according to Rachel Swann, Chief Constable for Derbyshire.
She wrote a letter, recommending a £15 Band D council tax hike, that she wants the force to be a “centre of excellence for technology innovation”.
This includes developing drones for use in all weather conditions and underwater search capabilities, along with the provision of doorbell cameras or victims of domestic abuse and “those whose life may be at risk”.
It also includes electric bikes for officers to use around the county - two of which are currently being trialled.
However, the police budget for the coming year also highlights financial difficulties in the years to come, with a £10 million deficit forecast by 2024 out of a budget of £224 million.
Chief constable Swann writes: “It is expected that in subsequent years we will have to make unpalatable decisions as to which services are needed, rather than wanted, by our communities.”
Hardyal Dhindsa, Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, wrote: “I have worked closely with the Chief Constable to understand what her needs are in terms of funding and what various levels of funding would mean in terms of supporting those who have worked selflessly to keep communities safe in the face of the pandemic.
“The budget we have pulled together is a consolidation budget that builds upon the work we started three years ago to rebuild policing after the cuts we had seen over 10 years and to get us to a position where we are able to respond to the demands placed upon the service.
“The year ahead is full of uncertainty because of the ongoing pandemic, but I didn’t want to set a budget that would mean cuts.
“We have come too far to start going backwards, but if the Government’s current trajectory of underfunding policing and other public services continues, we can’t rule out cuts in the medium term and that is something I want to avoid at all costs.”
AS your readers may know from earlier articles in the Ashbourne News Telegraph, Ian Smith and I are in the process of writing a book on the History of Dovedale Sheep Dog Trials.
We are now close to finalising the first draft in readiness for despatch to the publishers. During our latest read-through the text we have noticed there are a number of local people who were involved in the early days of Dovedale, from 1891 onwards, but about whom we do not have a great deal of information, and would like to include more if possible.
What we hope is that, if you are able to publish this letter which contains a list of the names, there may be readers who recognise the their ancestors and may be able to provide us with some information about them either from their own knowledge, or, from old family records, or photographs, which we could incorporate.
What we would also be grateful to receive are copies of the minutes of the early committee meetings, and programmes of those early trials, which we know were sold for 1/- each! Please be assured we will look after any such family records, photographs, minute books, or programmes you may be able to provide and ensure they are returned.
After the list of names are our details and we would be grateful if anyone with any information could please contact us, ideally before the end of February.
The names, in alphabetical order, are as follows:
J C Adams (Pethills); Mr Bagshawe (Ellastone); J Barker (Little Cubley);
J P Bassett (Broadlow Ash); A Boden (Knaveholme); Samuel J Boden (Knaveholme); George S Bowden (Somersal, and later, Uttoxeter); W Brownson (Osmaston); T Critchlow (Alsop-en-le-dale); Mr Donegani (Ilam); G Desborough (Ashbourne); T H L Duckworth (Ashbourne); W Evans (Castern Hall); F Palmby (Ellastone); J Fernihough (Ashbourne); H Finney (Cold Eaton); D Howson (Blore Hall); W Nuttall (Ashbourne); G Prince (Marston); William Prince (Izaak
Walton); W Reid (Norbury); W Shirley (Okeover); W H Smedley (Ashbourne); J Thorley (Birchwood Park); William Thorley (Snelston); G Tomson (Marston Montgomery); R Wain (Lea Cottage, Ilam); R Wallis (Ashbourne); H Ward (Ellastone); Walter White (Thorpe); T Wooddisse (Ashbourne).
Many thanks. Our contact details are: Nigel Davis – 07968 178634 or nrdavis49@gmail.com; Ian Smith – 07930 681836