Communities across Cambridgeshire set to benefit from enhanced police service

PEOPLE living in Cambridgeshire can expect an enhanced service from Cambridgeshire Constabulary following public support for an increase in the policing part of council tax for 2021/22.

This follows a decision by Acting Police and Crime Commissioner, Ray Bisby to increase the policing part of council tax (known as the ‘precept’) to £1.25 per month (based on a Band D property).

The increase in funding means the Chief Constable can now improve and enhance a number of services to ensure the local service continues to meet growing demand.  

The Acting Commissioner asked members of the public through a recent on-line survey whether they thought his proposed increase was value for money – a total of 1,270 people responded to the survey online with the majority (70.06%) agreeing that it was. 

Acting Commissioner Bisby said: “I would like to thank all those who took the time to provide their views.

“Whilst the pandemic continues to dominate our lives, and our officers continue to work tirelessly to keep us safe, it’s vital that the Chief Constable has the resources he needs to be able to protect our communities,” explains Mr Bisby.

“I am very proud of the Constabulary. We have an excellent service here in Cambridgeshire but it is important our officers are equipped with the necessary resources to respond to current and future threats.”

Chief Constable Nick Dean said: “Increasing the precept by £1.25 per month will make a significant difference to how we manage the finances in the next financial year and will give us some financial security over the next two years.

“It will allow us to focus on those areas where we know we have future threats such as cyber and digital demand, together with a more sustainable, future-proofed, policing model to cope with the growing complexity of policing.

 “The Constabulary, as with many forces, is still facing a financial gap in the years ahead despite this maximum precept payment, but this will buy us some time to re-model the service we offer and develop the workforce – both police officers and staff to ensure we can meet the changing and growing needs of our communities.”

The funding will see the following services boosted: an increase in call handlers, additional cyber/online prevention officers and digital media investigators, additional capacity for handling digital contact from the public, an increase in support for responding to calls for service from vulnerable people and additional support for the development of frontline officers.

The Acting Commissioner’s proposal was supported by the Police and Crime Panel at their meeting on 3^rd February 2021.

A link to the Police and Crime Panel’s meeting can be found here.

A table of the increase per household band is provided below: