Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston’s latest budget has been officially supported by the county’s Police and Crime Panel to help maintain the strong policing residents expect. 

Amidst an exceptionally challenging financial landscape, the Commissioner presented his proposals for police funding to the county’s Police and Crime Panel on Wednesday 5^th February, which were unanimously supported by members.  

They included his recommendation for a small increase in the money residents pay in the policing element of council tax by 4.89% which equates to an increase of 27p per week for Band D properties and 18p per week for Band A properties. 

The Commissioner said an outdated and grossly inadequate funding formula combined with rising costs such as increased pay awards and employer national insurance contributions had created difficulties that would impact the quality of service residents received unless this additional income could be secured. 

He added that the increase – widely supported by residents in his recent survey – was critical to ensuring the force is well-equipped to continue preventing, solving and investigating the crimes that matter most to residents.  

The Commissioner is responsible for setting Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s budget every year to ensure the Chief Constable has the necessary resources to meet demand and support local communities.  

For the financial year, 2025-2026, Police and Crime Commissioners were expected to increase the precept element of council tax by £14 (based on a Band D property). 

Although the level of settlement provided centrally has increased to £116.9m, the Commissioner explained that it still did not meet the county’s needs or changing demographics and blamed an archaic and unworkable funding formula for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s position as the fourth-lowest funded force in the country.  

Darryl said: “I have written to both past and present Home Secretaries to highlight our plight and will continue to do so until our county receives the resources it deserves. Regrettably, the upshot of this drastically outdated formula is that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents have to contribute almost half of our total policing budget to plug the gap. This is not a model of remuneration any Commissioner would endorse if their hands were not completely tied.  

“The funding formula was originally set over 10 years ago. A lot has changed since then - our population has grown by 11% and is still rising. New socio-economic inequalities have emerged alongside changing risks and threats that inevitably place a greater burden on our public services. These all have a knock-on effect on policing.  

“Despite our well-documented funding issues, I am proud of the progress made by the Constabulary and partners over the past 12 months, in part thanks to last year’s precept. We have sustained a record number of police officers with increasing representation of officers and staff to better reflect our communities – above and beyond targets set nationally by the Home Office – and more will follow this year. Overall crime has fallen 4.6% and call handling performance has improved with average waiting times for 999 calls now down to just three seconds and for 101, seven seconds.  

“There will always be more work to be done. Our communities deserve a strong and effective response to the problems that concern them and to receive help when they need it most. As Commissioner, driving crime out of neighbourhoods and keeping people safe remains at the heart of my Police and Crime Plan.”  

The PCC consulted residents across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over his budget plans and continues to engage with communities, businesses, schools, disability representatives and other groups to truly represent those he serves.  

67% of those who responded were supportive of the need to increase the policing precept to provide an improved policing service.