Merseyside’s council tax is set to be raised after central government denied additional police funding for the region.
The decision came after a Merseyside Police and Crime Panel meeting in Huyton.
At the meeting last week, Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell spoke on the need for additional funding to support the police staff and police community support officers.
She later tweeted: “@MerseyPolice officers & staff absolutely deserve a pay rise, but no additional funding allocated to cover this cost.”
Commissioner Spurrell criticised central government for not supporting the police force through central taxation.
She said: “It is deeply frustrating that ministers have once again pushed a greater burden for paying for an essential service like the police on to the shoulders of local council taxpayers.”
Higher police precept
In order to financially support Merseyside police and increase recruitment, Commissioner Spurrell proposed to increase the police precept for 2022-23, which is part of the council tax ringfenced for policing.
According to the Commissioner’s proposal, the police precept will be raised by £10 per year for a Band D property, which is a house valued between £68,000 and £88,000.
A majority of Merseyside’s council taxpayers, however, live in Band A properties, which have a value of up to £40,000.
As per the proposed precept, such property holders will have to pay an extra £6.67 per year, bringing their precept to £157.98 for the year.
Commissioner Spurrell said: “While the last thing I wanted to do is ask local people to contribute a little extra, especially after two particularly challenging years, my hands were tied.
“The Government left me with the stark choice- raise local council tax or face yet further cuts to our service,” she added.
Commissioner Spurrell’s precept proposal was approved by the Police and Crime Panel and is set to come into effect on April 1 2022.
