Tax bills rise by 5.7% to cover policing shortfall

Taxpayers will have to pay more to fund Gloucestershire Police as the force attempts to plug a £20m shortfall in its budget.

Police and crime commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson says the force faces £12m in cuts to staff and overtime and must save £20m in the next four years - with £9m in the first year alone.

From April onwards, the portion of the council tax bills which goes towards funding the police will rise by 5.7% to £340.58 for band D properties.

The force still plans to recruit 13 new neighbourhood officers to strengthen local policing, despite only being able to fully fund seven or eight of those posts.

Nelson said the force was told in December they would receive £2.3m less than they had expected, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He described the £184.7m budget as the "toughest" he has had to deal with during his five years in the role.

In December, he applied to raise the police's section of the council tax bill to £25 per household - £10 more than the maximum routinely permitted.

That was turned down by the government, which said he could instead increase it by 5.7% - the equivalent of £18.50.

"It still leaves us short and we have no antisocial behaviour hotspot money," he added.

"Over the last couple of years we've had a million each year."

Nelson blamed the £12m in cuts - equating to 80 police staff - on the cumulative impact of the funding formula for police forces, and underfunding of pay awards and incremental pay rises.

Despite financial pressures, he said the feedback he received from the public is they "want extra officers on the beat".

Cllr Jeremy Hilton said he supported the extra recruitment as it would mean the force would have 36 neighbourhood police officers in total.

"I'd encourage that policy to be implemented," he said. "Neighbourhood policing is really important.

"Dealing with neighbourhood issues is a critical thing, it's one of the things the public want to see happen."

The panel voted to support the budget with recommendations to give regular updates on the force's ICT, estates and new operating model.

They also asked for more information on preventive work being done to tackle inequity and improve trust in policing.

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