Commissioner seeks your views on police funding for 2023-24  

POLICE and Crime Commissioner, Darryl Preston is today (Wednesday 20^th December) launching a public survey asking people for their views about police funding for 2023-24.

“As your elected Police and Crime Commissioner an important part of my job is to set the budget for policing for the coming year,” says Darryl. “That means making sure the Chief Constable has the resources he needs to effectively police Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

“We are all aware of the tremendous pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis. Believe me, asking people to contribute more to police funding is not something I want to do however it is important to remember that inflation applies to policing as well – with police vehicles, fuel and training all costing more than they did this time last year.”

Police funding comes from two main sources: around 56% from central government and the remainder from the policing part of council tax, paid for by local residents. 

“Whilst we continue to face these financial challenges”, continues Darryl, “we need to remember that our police officers and staff continue to work tirelessly to keep us all safe.

“The good news is we have seen police officer numbers continually rise to record numbers (1,732 expected by March 2023) across our county. This is due to both the government’s national police officer recruitment programme (which pays for those new recruits) and the increase paid by you in your 2022/23 council tax bill which ensures officers have all the necessary training and equipment to carry out their jobs effectively.

“Thanks to you, we have also invested in additional police staff resources to support all of our new police officers with increased recruitment in Human Resources (where vetting takes place), Professional Standards, additional cyber investigators, and increased investment in tackling those who commit violence against women and girls.

“I am therefore asking for your views as I consider increasing the policing part of the council tax by 5.8% – this equates to 19p per week for a Band A property and 29p per week for a Band D. Please take a few minutes to answer my short survey.

“This would enable the Chief Constable to support, train and equip the record number of officers we have in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.”

The survey runs until 17:00 on Friday 13^th January 2023. Views can also be emailed to the Commissioner’s office at cambs-pcc@cambs.police.uk or by telephoning: 0300 333 3456.

You can find out more about the policing budget by visiting the Commissioner’s website: The Police & Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire | Budget (cambridgeshire-pcc.gov.uk) (2022/23 figures).