John Dwyer, Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire has set out proposals for his first budget which, alongside the Police and Crime Plan, sets out how resources will be allocated to the Constabulary.
John Dwyer said, "This has not been an easy task to accomplish in just 10 weeks in office but I am confident that I am proposing a budget that will minimise the impact of the reduced Government funding for policing."
The financial challenge for this year means that £8.3million savings must be found to balance the budget. This the third consecutive year the budget has been prepared with real term reductions in Government funding.
In order to close the funding gap, the Commissioner proposes to increase the police element of Council tax by 1.99%, which is an increase of 6p per week for a Band D home. This proposal comes following consultation with Cheshire residents in surveys over the last couple of weeks, 80% of whom said they would be prepared to pay the increase in order to safeguard some police officer posts.
John Dwyer added, "I was overwhelmed by the support shown by the people I spoke to who said that they did not think that cuts should be applied to policing. Unfortunately, these are difficult times for all public sector services and savings must be found. I am determined though, that cuts will not come from the front line. I intend to decline the Government's council tax freeze grant of 1% as it is only builds in further cuts of £1.2m.
"Following a managed process of the reduction of 37 officers through retirement and leavers, the budget will allow for the recruitment of 21 new recruits next year, this will mean that we do not face a problem further down the line when we have no young in service officers coming up through the ranks. Unfortunately, there will also be a loss of 35 police staff posts."
After certain grants have been transferred to the Commissioner's budget, such as PCSO funding, the total gross budget would be £205 million compared to £207 million last year.
The budget identifies savings in many areas and also makes changes to the way in which some funding is allocated to allow investment to be made in areas such as increasing the Special Constabulary.
John Dwyer said, "I made it clear in my pre-election campaign that I would not cut the front line and that Special Constables would be recruited to bolster numbers of neighbourhood officers. I will also be asking the Constabulary to look to increase the number of volunteers and cadets to provide opportunities for the public to give something back to their police service. These volunteers will not replace regular officers in our communities but will go some way to providing a visible and responsive service, something which the public has asked for."
"The budget is key to delivering my Police and Crime Plan which is centred on further reducing crime and maximising value-for-money savings. The Plan identifies my key priorities, which 96% of the people questioned agreed with. These include developing improved ways to protect vulnerable people, dealing with antisocial behaviour, tackling re-offending, policing the roads and addressing rural crime.
"I also intend to launch a Crime Prevention Fund of £100,000 to deliver additional crime prevention initiatives in the community."
As required by law, the Commissioner will notify the Police & Crime Panel of the proposed council tax precept on 1 February 2013 and must issue the precept by 1 March 2013.
