To receive a presentation from the Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson on the proposed increase to the precept for 2015/16.
Minutes:
The Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson gave a presentation to the Board on his proposals for an increase to the Police element of the precept for 2015/16.
The challenges for next year
· The big challenge for the 2015-16 financial year, and for the years beyond, will be to maintain and improve performance against reducing budgets.
· There were key factors which need to be taken into account when considering the precept and these were:
o There had been a 5.1% cash reduction in grant
o Net costs had increased by 1.3%
o The Commissioner could not increase council tax beyond 1.99% without a local referendum
· Over the next three years the funding gap would continue to increase.
· The size of the gap was dependent on the level of council tax that was proposed by the Commissioner.
· A 1.9% increase in council tax compared to no increase merely reduces the funding gap in year 3 by £2.275 million – an increase does not close the funding gap.
Our current funding
· The largest element of the Commissioner’s budget (62%) was funded from grants provided by the government – it is these grants the government are reducing
· Just over a third (38%) of the Commissioner’s budget was funded through the policing and crime element of the council tax.
· Any increase in the precept would therefore only cover part of the 5.1% lost grant.
· The two local authorities were funded differently:
o 40% of Wiltshire Council’s funding comes from grants provided by the government
o 48% of Swindon Borough Council’s funding comes from grants provided by the government
o This is in comparison to the 62% of the Commissioner’s budget which was funded by grants provided by the government
The impact on council tax
· The policing and crime element of council tax for a Band D property for this financial year equates to £160.92.
· This is in the lowest in the south west region which consists of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, Dorset Police, and Gloucestershire Constabulary.
· The Commissioner was proposing a precept increase of £3.06 per year for the average Band D property. This equates to a 1.9% increase.
· An increase of this amount would provide funding of £345,000 in 2015-16, and £728,000 in 2016-17. This would help reduce the effects of the lost grant albeit only by a small amount. It would, however, help the long term funding position when further grant reductions were expected.
Questions and Comments included:
· If a 1.9% increase would raise £345,000, what would a 0% increase raise, as that would entitle you to a government freeze grant? Answer: If we went with 0%, we would get a freeze grant, but that would only be for one year. In the longer term, if we like local policing, then we have to pay for it.
· The Dorset force would be going for a 0% increase, had they found a way of funding the gap? Answer: I don’t know, but in Wiltshire we have got Neighbourhood Policing right. I don’t know if their model was the same, but it was working well in Wiltshire, people like what we have. If we went to a regional Police force, we would lose our local Police Officers.
· If we would be given £350,000 by going for a 0% increase, why are we turning that down, it’s more than can be raised by increasing the precept by 1.9%?
· We were promised a custody suite in Salisbury, and now we are told that this will not happen. Answer: There will be a custody suite in the south of the county. We asked for a delay to seek further information, we would review the options for three months. We are keeping a close eye on arrest rates of streets in Salisbury, these had not changed since the custody suite in Salisbury was closed.
· People may change their priorities such as the NHP if other issues are impacted by cuts. You may find that there is less adaptability to future Police Force. Answer: I don’t want to throw out the strength of the NHP like we have seen in other forces in North of England.
The Chairman asked those present to take part in an electronic vote to see if people supported the 0% increase or the 1.9% increase. The majority supported the 1.9% increase to the precept.