Police Commissioner announces balanced budget to protect policing

Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston’s plans to build safer communities and maintain policing visibility over the next year have been formally approved.  

The Commissioner presented his 2026/27 budget to members of the Police and Crime Panel who unanimously approved his proposal for a 5% increase in the amount of council tax people pay towards policing (known as the precept).  

The PCC said the majority of respondents (52%) had supported paying a little more for policing in his recent survey, but he expressed regret at the growing inadequacy of central funding and its ongoing reliance on local taxpayers to ‘prop up’ policing services. 

While the government’s Police Reform White Paper announced earlier in the week includes a commitment to review the way in which police funding is allocated, the current formula continues to create wide disparities of wealth between forces, with areas like Cambridgeshire – the fourth lowest funded in the county at a distinct disadvantage.  

Policing funding comes from two sources – just over half from central government and the remainder from the policing part of council tax.   

The PCC said this year’s policing settlement falls significantly short of what is needed to mitigate a fast-growing local population and ever-changing threats and said he had no choice but to follow the Government’s expectations and increase the precept by 5% this year.  

The increase will see residents living in a Band D property paying an extra £14.94 this year (29p extra per week). 

Darryl said: “I cannot pretend this was an easy budget. With no extra funding to negate rising cost pressures and inflation, we find ourselves in familiar territory where every penny needs to work much harder to sustain the service and protection our residents deserve. 

“I’ve fought tirelessly since first being elected as Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2021 to highlight the shortcomings of the now outdated funding model, which has placed forces like Cambridgeshire at a distinct disadvantage to its peers.  

“Locally, our population has risen by a further 16% since this formula was developed and is predicted to overtake the national average by some margin. I am glad the government is finally listening my calls for a review – this is good news for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents.     

“Sadly, without increasing the precept this year, we could not maintain the current record officer numbers, nor sustain the strong and visible policing presence that is so important to our communities and vital for improving feelings of safety.  

“I am grateful to the public for their support for my approach and to all those who contributed to my consultation, as well as Police and Crime Panel members for their endorsement.  

“This budget will undoubtedly help cushion us against the immediate challenges and will go some way to protecting our resilience and capabilities to tackle crime and ASB robustly in the near future.” 

Full details of the budget for policing Cambridgeshire and Peterborough can be found on the PCC’s website: Budget