Policing Precept 2019/20

Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner, Martyn Underhill, has set the annual policing budget for 2019/20 including raising the Policing element of the council tax by £24 a year* (Band D).

Each year, it is my responsibility to set the part of your council tax that goes towards funding Dorset Police.

The Government have, once again, placed the responsibility for the majority of this year’s settlement with Police and Crime Commissioners. Rather than providing a much-needed, balanced funding settlement for policing, the Government advice was to increase the policing precept up to the maximum of £24* per year.

This is the amount that I therefore took to consultation with you, the people of Dorset.

This year’s precept consultation resulted in a total of 4,829 responses and I would like to thank everyone who took part.

Around 85% of you agreed that policing needs more investment and a large proportion of you told me that you, like me, believe this investment should come from central government, not the local council tax.

Additionally, over two thirds of you, 69%, said you would pay an additional £2 per month, per Band D property, for policing services.

I remain immensely frustrated that the financial burden has been passed to local taxpayers and, for the second year running, I have had to reluctantly ask for the support of Dorset residents to raise the precept to the maximum amount set by Whitehall.

The Government’s proposal for PCCs to raise the precept by £24 does little in the long term to resolve the police pension gap, inflation and unfunded pay pressures, all of which have been thrust on my budget in the last year.

Overall, the precept enhancement will amount to £7.0 million in extra income for Dorset Police, which will go some way to offsetting cuts in central funding.

However, I would like to point out the fact that a significant element of our cost base is subject to pay and pensions increases beyond our control.

The Treasury are attempting to tackle the national issue of ‘unfunded public sector pensions’ by passing the cost onto the police. Unlike in the NHS, where this has been centrally funded, the police are expected to make up the shortfall.

The full impact to Dorset of the pension increase is likely to be an extra £3.1 million a year. This figure on its own would need a precept increase of £10.70.

To address the ever-increasing and ever-changing demands on policing, we have created a £1m Innovation Fund. This fund will pay for initiatives such as extra staff in the rural and marine crime teams, improving road safety, reducing re-offending and tackling county lines drug networks.

Your raise in council tax keeps Dorset Police solvent, and allows for a small amount of growth in staffing and initiatives for the first time in a decade. I thank you for this boost, at a time of constant cuts, and a huge reduction in front-line staff over many years.

I would like to thank the residents of Dorset for once again supporting me and for the continuing support they show to the officers and staff of Dorset Police.

Martyn Underhill

Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner

 

COUNCIL TAX 2019/20

Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC), Martyn Underhill, has set the annual policing budget for 2019/20 including raising the Policing element of the council tax by £24 a year* (Band D).

Following a formal request from the Chief Constable, strong levels of public endorsement from those who took part in the annual precept survey and the unanimous support received from the Police and Crime Panel, the PCC has decided to raise the policing precept for the year. 

The PCC has a statutory obligation to set the police budget and precept. For more information on why the PCC chose to raise the precept, please click here.  

 

2018/19 £'s	POLICING PRECEPT CONTRIBUTIONS (PROPERTY TYPE)	2019/20 £'s
137.72	Band A	153.72
160.67	Band B	179.34
183.63	Band C	204.96
206.58	Band D*	230.58
252.49	Band E	281.82
298.39	Band F	333.06
344.30	Band G	384.30
413.16	Band H	461.16

 

2018/19	WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM	2019/20
£000’s		£000’s
65,668	Formula Funding Government Grants	66,881
2,233	Specific Government Grants	3,089
5,238	PFI specific grant	5,237
4,001	Income generated by Dorset Police	4,076
3,729	Other grants, reimbursements and contributions	3,623
2,339	Contribution from Reserves	1,146
841	Council Tax collection fund surplus	951
59,006	Council Tax requirement	66,836
143,055	Total funding and income	151,839

 

2018/19	WHERE THE MONEY IS SPENT	2019/20
£000’s	Dorset Police	£000’s
109,143	Dorset Police employees	113,345
4,658	Premises	5,076
8,025	PFI building costs	8,219
2,180	Transport	2,285
9,957	Supplies and Services	12,245
4,559	Specialist Police Support Services	5,442
1,359	Capital Financing Costs	1,754
139,881	Total Dorset Police expenditure	148,366
	Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner (OPCC)
1,278	Employees and office costs	1,072
1,896	Commissioned services	2,401
3,174	Total OPCC expenditure	3,473
143,055	Gross Expenditure	151,839

 

COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENT
	£000’s
2018/19 Council Tax Requirement	59,006
2019/20 Council Tax Requirement	66,836
Increase in Council Tax Requirement	7,830
WHY THE COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENT HAS INCREASED IN 2019/20
	£000’s
Pay and price inflation	3,314
Pension changes	2,255
Service developments and improvements	1,774
Changes in Government grants and other income	908
Capital projects financing	535
Savings, reductions and re-investment (net)	(956)
Total	7,830

 

2018/19 FTE	EMPLOYEE NUMBERS	2019/20 FTE
1,201	Police Officers	1,200
1,097	Police staff, including Police Community Support Officers	1,120
273	Special Constables / Volunteers	278

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

You can also download this information in PDF format by clicking here