Police and Crime Commissioner, Festus Akinbusoye, has today released the police precept survey for the financial year 2023/24.
The police precept is what Bedfordshire residents pay to help cover the cost of policing, community safety and victim services through their annual council tax bill.
The Commissioner said “One of my legal responsibilities as Police and Crime Commissioner, is to consult with you on changes I am considering to the part of your council tax which partly funds the police. This fund is referred to as the police precept.
At present 60% of our funding comes from Central Government while 40% comes from police precept.
Our force continues to be one of the least well funded forces in the country. Due to a formula that is over twenty years out-of-date, we are still funded as a rural county. This does not take into account the type or volume of serious criminality we experience in Bedfordshire.
I have personally raised these issues and their impacts with successive Home Secretaries and Police Ministers.
We now have written confirmation from the Home Office that the consultation on a new funding formula will commence in the New Year. I welcome this, and will be fully engaged with the consultation.
In the meantime, to help Bedfordshire Police deliver the most effective policing possible, I am proposing to increase the police precept by £15 a year for an average Band D property for 2023/24. This equates to about 28p a week for a Band D property.
I am acutely aware of the present financial pressures on households. This is why my proposal is a below inflation rise that will help Bedfordshire Police continue to deliver the best possible service it can, with record numbers of police officers in our communities.
I have listened carefully to what local residents and community representatives have told me about what they want from their police force. By increasing the precept next year, the Chief Constable will have the resources to:
– Increase the number of police officers in our community policing teams with the specific aims of providing greater visibility and reassurance especially in our market towns and villages;
– Provide dedicated data analysts to ensure that trends and patterns of criminality are picked up early and resources deployed to prevent further crimes;
– Increase the number of victim engagement officers in the rape and serious sexual offences unit to support the most vulnerable of victims.”
The below shows how much the police precept will be for the different bands in 2023/24 if the precept is raised.
Police Council Tax Precept for 2023/24(£)
Council Tax Band A – 168.06
Council Tax Band B – 196.07
Council Tax Band C – 224.08
Council Tax Band D – 252.09
Council Tax Band E – 308.11
Council Tax Band F – 364.13
Council Tax Band G – 420.15
Council Tax Band H – 504.18
Survey will close on the 20th January 2023.