The Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex is once again asking residents for their views on policing priorities & funding.
The Government have given PCCs the flexibility to raise Council Tax next year by up to £10 a year or 83p a week (for an average Band D household).
In 2013/14 the Council Tax bill for policing (precept) in Sussex was £138.52, in the current financial year it stood at £214.91 (an increase of £76.39 for an average Band D household).
PCC Katy Bourne has opened her annual survey asking Sussex residents about the crime and community safety issues that matter to them, their experience of contacting police and about police funding:
I want to know which issues matter most to people and ask what can be done to address them by all our local partners working in collaboration with police. This helps me set the local policing priorities for the Chief Constable to address as set out in my Police and Crime Plan.
As the elected Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner I am also responsible for securing the annual budget for Sussex Police which consists of an annual Government Grant and the police precept element of your council tax (which makes up 41% of the total).
All of us, including our public services, face rising costs from inflation so if we want to sustain levels of neighbourhood policing in Sussex, take more offenders off the streets and protect communities we will need to consider increasing the precept next year.
I know that any increase next year will be challenging on top of other costs, but households still pay less for policing in Sussex than most counties where the precept remains one of the lowest in the country at 31 out of 37.
Katy Bourne
Click to see the results of last year’s police funding survey. To find out more about policing priorities and what they spend – you can read the PCC’s last annual report.
Have Your Say
The online survey asks residents about their experiences of crime and what would make them feel safer. It also asks want level of level of monthly increase they would support. In addition the survey asks about victims’ services supported by the Sussex PCC.
Click here to complete the survey about policing priorities and funding.
