Police Funding Challenges in Rutland: Balancing Needs and Budgets
Deputy PCC says council tax rise aims to support frontline services despite tough finances
A debate over police funding in Leicestershire and Rutland has come to a head, as councillors consider a budget of almost two hundred and sixty two million pounds for the coming year—leaving a funding gap of nearly five million pounds.
Oliver Bryan, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, says the decision to raise council tax by around eleven pounds for most households was not taken lightly. He told us:
“The dispute is about whether the chief thinks he needs more to cover certain costs down the line, and we’ve had to balance that with the decision that people are going to see their taxes rise."
"Also, we thought we have to balance the financial budgets of households with that of the force. It just wouldn’t have been possible to keep the precept at what it was last."
"We did do a public consultation and found that people were willing to support an increase if it meant that Leicestershire Police would have some help with its ongoing financial pressures.”
Mr Bryan admits it’s a tough time for everyone, adding:
“By doing that, we think that we are trying to do our best to help people with their really tight personal budgets as well as, like I say, deal with the fact that we’ve got the police pay increase, inflation itself and costs going up for the force."
"So we’ve tried to balance the two, but it’s a really difficult time in terms of public safety.”
He says public safety remains the number one priority, with a new prevention fund being created to help the force invest in crime prevention:
“That’s obviously the number one priority, and we are going to be creating a new prevention pot to also help the police that will go towards specifically investing in crime prevention strategies and try and take some of the demand off of the response officers"
The budget, which includes further savings and warnings of cuts to police staff, goes before councillors today.