© Merseyside Police
Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner has set out her plans to protect the force from a £8.5m blackhole caused by “insufficient” Government funding.
Emily Spurrell says that the turbulent economic climate has left her with no choice but to raise policing element of council tax – known as the precept – by an average of £8.67 for a Band A property.
Merseyside police said the move is essential to prevent cuts to vital services that fight crime and protect local policing.
The force remains 450 officers short of the number they had in 2010 and, even with this increase in the precept, the Police Commissioner and Chief Constable will have to make up a £8.5m shortfall in the year ahead.
Despite the financial challenges, the PCC and Chief Constable say they have focused on investing on frontline services and in the past year all crime has reduced by 7.7% across Merseyside, with significant reductions in burglary (18%), knife crime (18.6%) and gun crime at its lowest level since records began 22 years ago.
Emily Spurrell said: “The stark reality is that central Government are simply not providing enough money for policing on Merseyside.
The last thing I want to do is increase council tax
“We’ve experienced years of cuts; our office numbers are still way down, and we still have to find £8.5m of savings in this year alone and £22m over the next five years.
“The last thing I want to do is increase council tax at a time when many household budgets are stretched, but the Government’s refusal to provide the funding our region needs means I’ve been left with no alternative.
“Without this additional funding, frontline police services are in danger of being cut even further.”
A public budget meeting will now be held on 14th February at which the PCC and Chief Constable will set Merseyside Police’s budget for 2024/25.
Featured image (c) Merseyside Police
