County crime commissioner bows to pressure on Council Tax bills
Strong opposition to his police budget has today (Tuesday) prompted Leicestershire and Rutland’s Crime Commissioner to increase the policing levy for Council Tax by £4 a year per household.
Rupert Matthews wanted initially to raise the levy by £11 per annum for an average Band D property instead of the maximum allowable which is £15 per annum.
He said he wanted to reduce the burden on residents at a challenging economic time but his budget was rejected by members of the Police and Crime Panel who said it would leave a significant funding gap.
Temporary Chief Constable, David Sandall, Leicester Police Federation chairman, Andy Spence, and Safer Melton Partnership vice-chair, Sharon Butcher, all spoke out against it amid fears it would badly affect policing resources.
Announcing his decision today to implement an increase of £15 for a Band D property, which will raise an additional £1.4M to £1.5M for policing, crime prevention activity, community safety and victim support services, Mr
Matthews said: “The Panel recommended that the maximum level of precept should be imposed on local taxpayers.
“The challenges put forward by the Panel do not lead me to question my original decision-making process, but I do recognise their role to scrutinise my decision making and represent the views of their relevant organisations and electorates by extension.
“As I made clear, I wanted to go for a low level of council tax precept on behalf of local residents, which was blocked by the Panel.
"Therefore, my Council Tax Precept for the 2026/27 financial year will now be set at £15 for a Band D property.
“The additional income will cover the Force’s remaining deficit of £750k, which means that the Temporary Chief Constable no longer has an in-year savings target.
"The balance will boost both our reserves and be used to fund demand-reducing prevention activity to lessen the pressures on the call centre, and frontline officers and staff.”
Panel members had insisted at the meeting that they believed residents would be willing to pay the extra £4 a year – the equivalent of 8p a week – to provide the extra funding for policing.
Leicestershire Police Federation chair Andy Spence, commented: “I am pleased that the Police and Crime Commissioner has listened to reason and agreed to raise the council tax precept by £15, despite his initial reluctance to do so.
"This will provide much-needed funds to at a time to support our hard-working police officers in Leicestershire.
"I am concerned, however, that the PCC commits to giving the entirety of this money to the force so it can support frontline policing at a time when demand is continually rising.
"None of this money should be diverted into funding charitable and commercial prevention schemes. There is no data demonstrating that these schemes reduce crime or increase public confidence in policing.
"The hard-working officers of Leicestershire Police give their all to keep the public of Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland safe.
"It is only right that the entire policing budget should be used to support their incredible efforts."
The policing levy for other properties will be: Band A £10, Band B £11.67, Band C £13.33, Band E £18.33, Band F £21.67, Band G £25 and Band H £30.