Cheshire's police and crime commissioner is asking Cheshire residents if they are willing to support an increase to the police precept to put more feet on the beat.
David Keane is today (Tuesday 8th January 2019) launching a consultation with the option to increase the policing precept in local council tax payments by £2 per month for the average band D household.
In December, the government announced that Cheshire Constabulary would receive funding to cover unavoidable pressures on policing but assumes that Cheshire taxpayers will fund almost two thirds of this through an increase of the policing precept.
David said: "The government has recognised that we need more money for policing but it is putting the burden on local taxpayers. Cheshire Constabulary has made more than £60 million worth of savings since 2010 but with non-pay budgets now over stretched, we have a stark choice to either fund this locally or significantly cut policing numbers.
"I believe that by funding policing through rising council tax, the government is essentially pitting the police against the local population. But without an increase to the precept, the funding offered for 2019/20 is insufficient to cover the existing budget, let alone inflation and increasing demand on our resources.
"With increasing pressures on household budgets, I understand that this proposed government increase to council tax payments is a bitter pill to swallow. However, I been left with no choice but to consult on the difficult option."
Residents and businesses across Cheshire are being asked to complete a survey to give their views on 2019/20's precept ahead of the commissioner setting the constabulary's budget in February.
The commissioner will also be holding a number of consultation events across Cheshire for residents to talk with him directly about their priorities for police funding. The nearest consultation event will be held in Macclesfield at Sainsbury's, 61 Cumberland Street on Tuesday 22nd January from 11am-2pm.
Cheshire residents can also give their views by completing a survey on the Cheshire PCC website.
The consultation closes at midnight on Sunday 27 January 2019.
Comments
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As with all matters relating to Cheshire East, adequacy is always another tax payer £1 away.
The huge amount of money wasted in pursuit of the politically motivated accusations against the Chief Constable, plus David Keane's' record of hiring unqualified cronies to staff his office should act as a stark warning to us all.
Working from home? Sitting at a desk?
Daily Telegraph on line....
A third of people have not seen any bobbies on the beat in the last year and say the situation is getting worse, police inspectorate survey finds.
Suspect Wilmslow fraction is higher. Money spent on a Police Commissioner is being wasted. Absolutely nothing to show for it.
As a concept it sounds good but a bit old fashioned and getting largely inefficient. The police are required to make an arrest, which is at the end of an incident. We the public must understand that WE must play our part even more nowadays and in that respect We are the eyes and ears of what is going on everywhere. It’s as though WE are the ‘Bobby’ on our own little beat that is the road in front of our house/street or where we just happen to be driving at that particular moment. So if we think something dodgy is happening we call the police, who then ‘have a look’ on their CCTV outlets [more needed to help with this] or dispatch a drone that can be in the area very quickly and allow an assessment of the situation. The drone can follow suspects who can be apprehended by the ‘bobby’ in a more leisurely manner and remove the urgency for police intervention - unless the situation was life threatening. A drone would work well at night and also gather recorded evidence for further consideration. So the future could be more drones that work with and for the police in an intelligent manner. The ‘Bobby on the beat’ in future might therefore be sat in a drone control room and perhaps not be a ‘Bobby’ at all.
The problem with this idea is mainly two-fold - WE the public need to get involved and do our bit to look after our community by reporting incidents and the police need to install a phone line that gets answered within a very short time. Have you ever tried to contact Cheshire police on anything but 999? Waiting for an answer soon makes you give up the will to live!
Tribal colours of politics aside, Dwyer has a positive track record in reducing bureaucracy and providing services to the public, which certainly cannot be said of the current incumbent; Appointment of family friend Dirir / Appoint deputy, a previous colleague / Appoint Chief of Staff / Empire build at Stockton Heath / Increase of policing precept twice and now going for a third increase unchecked by CEC.
Interesting to see how this develops and who else stands ??