Police & Crime Commissioner Survey
As your elected Police and Crime Commissioner, an important part of my job is to set the budget for policing for the coming year. That means making sure the Chief Constable has the resources he needs to effectively police Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
We are all aware of the tremendous pressures caused by the current cost-of-living crisis however it is important to remember that inflation applies to policing as well, with police vehicles, fuel and training all costing more than they did this time last year.
Police funding comes from two main sources: around 56% from central government and the remainder from the policing part of council tax, paid for by local residents.
Whilst we continue to face these financial challenges, we need to remember that our police officers and staff continue to work tirelessly to keep us all safe.
The good news is we have seen police officer numbers continually rise to record numbers (1,732 expected by March 2023) across our county. This is due to both the government’s national police officer recruitment programme (which pays for those new recruits) and the increase paid by you in your 2022/23 council tax bill which ensures officers have all the necessary training and equipment to carry out their jobs effectively.
I would be grateful if you could take a few moments to give me your views as I consider increasing the policing part of the council tax by 5.8%. This equates to 19p per week for a property in Band A, or 29p per week for a Band D.
This would enable the Chief Constable to support, train and equip the record number of officers we have in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
You can find the survey on my webpage – it runs until Friday 13th January 2023 at 17:00
If you would prefer to give your views by telephone, please speak to a member of my team on 0300 333 3456 or email: ku.ecilop.sbmac@ccp-sbmac.
Many thanks for your time.
Darryl
