A POLICE budget which adds an inflation-busting 6.6 per cent to its portion of council tax bills has been passed.
David Jamieson, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, has requested an increased policing council tax ‘precept’ for the year ahead.
For a band D property, the burden for policing goes up by £10 per year, on top of an 18 per cent higher precept last year.
On average, precepts would go up by £12, as Mr Jamieson requested the regional police and crime panel approves plans to raise bills by 6.6 per cent.
The budget was agreed at a meeting of the regional police and crime panel on Monday (February 3).
Despite increased government funding to recruit 366 police officers this year, the cash-strapped constabulary will have to take £3.2m from its reserves.
West Midlands police’s budget will be £624million in 2020.
The PCC pointed to the higher pay for the constabulary’s staff, which will cost the force £18million.
He added this would not be met by the higher precept, raising £8.3million.
Across England, police forces have increased their reliance on ratepayers for policing.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in the 1990s, just 12p in the pound paid by council tax provided cash to the cops, but current Home Office figures show this has gone up to 32p in the pound, with rest coming in grants from central government
Mr Jamieson said the government is to put £502.7million into West Midlands Police over the next year – an increase of £42.7milliopn, on the understanding the PCC will raise the council tqax precept for day-to-day running and use the Whitehall cash to meet recruitment targets of 1200 officers by March 2023.
He added: “I want to place on record my thanks to the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel for their overwhelming, cross-party support.
“A £10 increase in the West Midlands still means local people will pay considerably less than people living in areas covered by neighbouring forces which charge much higher precepts – Warwickshire (£237.98), Staffordshire (£226.66), and West Mercia (£226.66).
“Since 2010 West Midlands Police have lost over 2,100 officers and faced real terms cuts of £175 million in government funding. This announcement does not come close to unravelling a decade of under-investment in police forces.
“This budget provides some stability, but the government have failed to provide West Midlands Police with the right resources to see the force standstill.”