This would be an increase of £10 per annum (around 19p per week), from the 2019/20 level.
Legislation requires that the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) agrees their budget and associated precept and basic council tax for the forthcoming year before 1st March each year.
However, before doing so, the PCC must notify the relevant Police and Crime Panel, by the 31st January, of the precept which they propose to issue for the following financial year.
The PCC has been informed by the Home Office that “We are giving police forces £700 million for the recruitment of 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021, which represents an increase of almost 10% of the core grant funding provided last year. Assuming full take up of precept flexibility, overall funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will increase by £915 million to £13.1 billion next year.”
This precept flexibility is that PCC’s have been provided with is the option to increase their Band D precept by £10 in 2020/21, without the need to call a local referendum. In Cleveland this equates to an increase of 3.99%.
The results of consultation with the public of Cleveland, in relation to the level of precept for 2020/21, which had 368 responses, has resulted in the following:
- 63.9% said that they agree with the proposal to increase the precept by 3.99% and would like to see the Chief Constable make significant improvements to Cleveland Police
- 36.1% said that they do not agree with the proposal to increase the precept by 3.99% and understand this means Cleveland Police will have to make cuts to services and the Force’s progress will be set back.
If the precept is increased by £10, the Net Budget Requirement is expected to increase in 2020/21, by over £8.4m (or 6.4%.)
After taking into account the additional grant that will be provided if the Force deliver against the Government’s recruitment targets for Police Officers, the total funding available in 2020/21, in comparison to 2019/20, is forecast to increase by over £10m. The PCC is asked to give approval, based on the financial needs of the organisation and the public consultation to propose, to the Police and Crime Panel, the Police Precept for 2020/21 as £260.54, for a Band D property in Cleveland.
Decision 2019-00132968. Agreement on the Precept (Funding) Proposal for 2020/21 (application, 198kB)