The Police and Crime Commissioner’s 2021/22 budget for West Midlands Police has been scrutinised and approved by the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel.
The Commissioner is responsible for setting the budget for West Midlands Police. This includes setting the local ‘police precept’, which is the part of council tax that goes to the police. The overwhelming majority of West Midlands Police’s budget comes from central government.
The amount West Midlands Police can now raise per household from council tax is the second lowest in the England and Wales at just £177.55. This follows the PCC requesting for the Police and Crime Panel to increase the policing precept by £1.25 a month per household (for a band D property). With this increase, West Midlands Police will still have the second lowest policing precept in the country.
The Commissioner launched a public consultation before Christmas asking the public their thoughts on funding for West Midlands Police. 89% of more than 500 respondents said that they would be happy to pay an increase in council tax to ensure that more policing could be provided in their communities.
Most properties in the West Midlands are in band A and B and the cost would be less than £1 per month.
The West Midlands Police Precept is the second lowest in the country and remains at least £60 less than neighbouring forces. Warwickshire Police currently has a council tax precept of £239.22 per year.
The precept for the West Midlands is currently £162.55 which compared to a similar force such as Greater Manchester which has its precept set at £208.30.
In December the Government announced that they would expect Police and Crime Commissioners to raise the policing precept by £15 for 2021/22.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said:
“I want to place on record my thanks to the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel for their cross-party support.
“This increase, of around 30p a week for a band D property, will mean that we are able to continue to recruit new police officers and allow the force to grow.
“Whilst the budget will remain under serious pressure, this approval means that we are able to provide some of the additional resources in communities that the public want.
“I would much rather that the government had fully funded this increase, rather than essentially mandating a council tax increase and pushing the burden onto local taxpayers.
“However, I am pleased that my public consultation concluded that the overwhelming majority of local people were happy to pay that little bit more in their policing precept to support our police service.”
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