A 10 pence a week increase in Wiltshire Police Authority’s precept demand will face band D council taxpayers in April following its decision to set a budget for the coming year of £108 million.
The authority set the annual policing precept for 2010-11 at a meeting held in its Devizes headquarters on Thursday, members agreeing a 3.40 per cent increase – equivalent to a demand for average households of a new annual policing precept of £157.77, which means an additional £5.19 for the year.
Chairman, Christopher Hoare, said afterwards: “Although we understand that any increase is unwelcome in today’s conditions, we firmly believe that this settlement represents good value for money for the people of Wiltshire and Swindon.”
“Again we received one of the lowest levels of central government grant in the country, but we are determined that the service improvements that Wiltshire Police are now achieving need to be secured for the future.”
“The precept we set enables the Force to continue to move forward with the Chief Constable’s aim of making Wiltshire the safest county in the country.”
Indeed, the performance of Wiltshire Police continues to improve as clearly shown by the latest Home Office statistics, which reveal Wiltshire recording the lowest level of violence in the country.
Wiltshire Police’s Chief Constable, Brian Moore (pictured), said: “Wiltshire Police is making sustained improvements in bringing crime down and raising people’s confidence in their police force.”
“I am pleased that, despite the difficult economic climate, our Police Authority on behalf of the public has made this investment in us. We will be working even harder in the year ahead to make this the safest county in the country.”
Policing continues to operate within the tight financial constraints which followed the Government’s comprehensive spending review which, in Wiltshire’s case, meant reducing the costs of policing by £15 million by 2014/15.
Wiltshire Police is making good progress in implementing the agreed plan formulated to deliver the financial targets and already savings of £4.493million have been achieved.
This annual budget marks the last which the police authority will set before the election in November of the new Police and Crime Commissioners.