Commissioner Katy Bourne
SUSSEX residents will pay an average of £12 extra for police services after the county’s Police and Crime Panel supported budget proposals—East Sussex County Council, on behalf of Sussex Police and Crime Panel, 19 January 2018
The Panel met today (Friday 19) to discuss a 7.8 per cent increase in the Police’s share of council tax, proposed by Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne.
A working group, established to act as a critical friend during the development of the force’s budget, met with the commissioner to discuss pressures and possible proposals twice last year and their findings were presented to the Panel.
But at today’s meeting, members spoke of their frustration at having spent time at previous meetings discussing a range of budget options, but not the £12 proposed as a result of central Government subsequently authorising higher increases in precepts.
Commissioner Katy Bourne said she shared the working group’s frustration at the late announcement of Government funding.
“I recognise that any increase is going to be challenging for some of our residents,” she told the Panel. “This is not a decision I take lightly.
“I do this to protect 476 staff and officer posts, sustain local policing and make sure the Chief Constable puts resources in areas the public say matter to them.”
Driving the decision to increase the charge, the Commissioner told the Panel, was the rising demand on the police service and the increasingly complicated nature of criminal investigations.
Mrs Bourne said the public wanted to see investment in visible, local policing and improvements to the public’s contact with police, and were prepared to support the force through increased precept contributions.
She said the increase, along with the use of £17million of reserves, will reduce the funding gap from £26.5million to around £2million to £3million by 2022.
There was criticism from the Panel that officer numbers had been “cut back to the bone” and the Commissioner was asked to ensure any increase to the precept was spent on front line policing.
A motion to veto the precept was lost with only seven of 18 members present voting in favour of forcing the Commissioner to propose a smaller increase. The Panel agreed, by a majority, to support the Commissioner’s proposed precept.
The Panel also asked the Commissioner to review partnerships to ensure that Sussex Police were fully benefitting from the sharing of services.
After the meeting, Panel chairman Cllr Bill Bentley said: “The Panel was thorough in its challenge of the Commissioner’s proposals given the burden a 7.8 per cent increase would put on residents.
“But we recognise that without the additional income residents would see a significant reduction in frontline officers over the next four years – something the public, along with members of the Panel, have been quite clear in opposing.”
Also at today’s meeting, the Panel congratulated PC Ginny Jupp, an anti-social behaviour officer based in Eastbourne, who was awarded a Queen’s Police Medal in the New Year’s Honours for her service.
The next meeting of the Sussex Police and Crime Panel will be held on Friday, April 27, 2018.
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In Sussex, 75 per cent of dwellings are Band D or lower.
Members of the public are encouraged to submit written questions to the Panel to enable it to challenge the Commissioner on issues of residents feel are important. Written questions to the Panel must be submitted two weeks before the meeting and can be sent to Sussex Police and Crime Panel, Room 21, County Hall, Chichester PO19 1RQ.
The role of the Sussex Police and Crime Panel is to scrutinise the performance of the Commissioner and ensure transparency.
More information about the Police and Crime Panel, details of meeting and the reports discussed at Friday’s meeting can be found at www.westsussex.gov.uk/about-the-council/how-the-council-works/committees-and-decision-making/other-meetings/sussex-police-and-crime-panel
More information about the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner can be found at www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk
A webcast of the meeting can be viewed www.eastsussex.gov.uk/yourcouncil/webcasts/
