People in Essex will pay more for policing within council tax bill
The budget proposals for 2021/22 have been agreed
People in Essex will be paying more for policing as part of their council tax over the next year.
Members of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel have agreed the budget for policing and fire and rescue services recommended by Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.
Although the increase in the precepts is being kept to a minimum to reduce the financial impact on residents, there will still be funds for 184 more police officers.
The policing element of the council tax is being increased by 4.98 per cent.
That is equivalent to £9.90 a year for a Band D property, taking the cost to £208.53.
But, there will not be an increase in the fire and rescue element of council tax, as investment for the service will be met from current reserves.
Mr Hirst said:
"As a country we are under intense financial pressure, and every penny we spend needs to make a difference.
"We also need to set out clearly what the public can expect to see as a result of this extra funding.
"I have been through the budgets for both services with the Chief Officers and am convinced that today’s support for my budget proposals will get the result we want.
"We have also continued to improve the efficiency of both services and the Essex Police budget alone includes £3.5m additional efficiency savings that will be reinvested in the frontline.
"These budgets mean that Essex will be an even safer and more secure county and will help deliver the services that the public want and that are set out as priorities in both my Police and Crime Plan and Fire and Rescue Plan.
"As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic it is more vital than ever that we continue to support our emergency services.
"This investment in policing will continue to push back crime and creates the safe and secure communities that are the bedrock on which communities flourish and businesses grow and prosper.
"The police and fire and rescue services are essential to creating the environment we all need and where we can build back better and stronger than ever before.
"Over the last few years, we have provided the funding to enable Essex Police to recruit more than 500 extra officers.
"These officers have strengthened our response to serious violence, exploitation and gangs, they have transformed our community policing teams, introduced Town Centre Teams, the Rural Crime Team and the Business Crime Team and shifted the focus of policing in our county from managing demand to proactively preventing crime.
"This has resulted in significant reductions in burglary, theft and anti-social behaviour and early signs that we are successfully fighting back against the scourge of violent crime in our communities.
"It is working.
"This budget will take that increase to over 700 additional officers.
"We know times are tough, so we are not using all the precept increase permitted for policing or increasing the precept for the fire and rescue service.
"We will use the proportion we need, so we can continue our fight to push down crime and create the communities we all need to prosper."
The budget was agreed by the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel which met on Thursday (4 February).
Of the extra Essex Police officers:
30 will be part of a serious violence team – doubling the size of the existing team targeting County Lines and drug gangs
22 officers will form a domestic abuse problem solving team, working with repeat victims and perpetrators to break the cycle of domestic abuse
14 officers for a proactive domestic team to work alongside current domestic abuse investigation teams
14 officers to work within an offender management team, focused on preventing harm caused by sexual offenders
There will also be three extra dog handlers, the creation of district policing area disruption teams plus increased support to the major crime team, people trafficking, modern slavery, road crime, organised crime, missing persons, crime prevention, firearms, professional standards, driver training, taser training plus investment in data protection, IT systems and a federation officer to support officers.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service:
As the precept has not been increased for the fire and rescue element, the precept on a Band D property will remain at £73.89.
But, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service will be continuing to work on the priorities within the Fire and Rescue Plan by making best use of existing resources.
This will reportedly allow key investments to go ahead in:
Fire protection in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Operational training for firefighters
Learning and development of service staff
On-call recruitment and improving retention
ICT – updating systems and hardware to improve productivity and connectivity.