County residents to pay £15 extra a year for policing through Council Tax bills

The area’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Rupert Matthews, proposed the hike following a public consultation to ensure policing services can be maintained and enhanced.

Members of the Police and Crime Panel this week approved his budget of £230.19million, an increase of £6.93m (3.1 per cent) on last year.

The increased share of Council Tax bills of £15 a year, or 29p a week, for a Band D average property, means the average household will pay £273.23 for policing for the year – this is 13 per cent of the total bill.

A consultation of residents last year resulted in just over half of the nearly 2,300 respondents indicating they would opt for paying the higher amount for the police if they had to choose from a £10, £12 or £15 increase.

The PCC pointed out that the amount of money Leicestershire and Rutland people pay for policing remained below the East Midlands average and the increase as below the rate of inflation, at a challenge economic time for residents.

On the consultation responses, Mr Matthews commented: “Their responses showed that their policing priorities, like mine, remain constant and that they are willing to pay a little more to see them delivered.”

The increased budget, which includes £620,000 from the PCC’s reserve budget, will maintain some of the improvements already introduced such as the

dedicated team of rural officers equipped with specialist kit to help police remote and off-road locations.

It will also fund the works growing out of a strategic review of police stations and offices across the area and help maintain the current number of officers, which is 35 more than the 297 recruited through the recent ‘Uplift’ programme.

There will be a renewed focus on the training of officers, including special constables, and PCSOs, including in the use of tasers, community relations or dealing with anti-social behaviour.

Mr Matthews said: “It is absolutely vital that we protect the improvements to police services seen since 2021.

“It’s no secret that the current financial landscape for policing is the most challenging for over a decade.

"A nationally-set pay agreement for our local workforce, inflation and fuel costs have all put significant pressure on budgets so every avenue for savings and further ‘bang for each buck’ has been explored.

“However, I remain committed to strengthening local policing which is why areas earmarked for investment are also designed to deliver greater efficiencies.

"These key areas include better technology, support mechanisms and systems to give Leicestershire Police more time with communities to prevent crime and arrest criminals.”

In a message to Leicestershire and Rutland residents, he added: “I can assure them that I will be ruthless in my scrutiny of the force’s performance and expenditure to ensure that they receive value for money.

“Leicestershire Police is an excellent force and I am determined to do everything I can to keep it that way.”