Lincolnshire Police Authority is responsible for controlling the police budget, which this year is £100.6 million. The budget is made up of Government grants and a precept on local council tax. In other words, a proportion of your council tax goes towards funding the police force.
More than 60 per cent of our budget comes from the Government. The amount of grant we receive is calculated using a funding formula which takes into account a number of different elements such as the size of the county and its population, the size of the force and policing problems that have to be tackled. You may be aware that the Authority continues in dialogue with the Government to ensure this formula properly reflects the county of Lincolnshire.
For the next financial year, our total allocation from the Government will be £72.8 million – an increase of 2.9 per cent.
Over a number of years we have argued that this formula disadvantages Lincolnshire, which is why our police force continues to have the lowest spend per head of population in the country. The budget is stretched and our officers – led by the Chief Constable – cannot count on the resources enjoyed by other areas.
This year, the Government has indicated that it expects police authorities to limit their council tax increases to below five per cent.
The part of the budget paid for by council tax depends on the amount of money allocated by central Government.
About 38 per cent of our funding comes from the council tax. Currently Band D households contribute £165.78 a year, or £3.20p a week for the police service.
However, the majority of people in Lincolnshire pay less than this, with more than 80 per cent of people living in band A-C households.
For 2009/10 an increase in the council tax precept of around five per cent is needed to maintain existing service levels.
A standstill budget does not allow the Authority or the Force to give the people of Lincolnshire the policing they deserve. Together with the Chief Constable, we are discussing our funding difficulties with the Policing Minister as part of our campaign to get what we consider to be a fairer share of the national pot.
We would like to know what level of council tax increase you would be prepared to accept in order to improve every area of policing – from road safety and community safety to dealing with major incidents.
Whatever the level of budget increase, the Authority and the Force are confident that the people of Lincolnshire will continue to receive the best value for money. We will also continue our drive for more efficiency, balanced with the requirements of the Force to meet increasing demands. An injection of funds would allow us to deliver improvements more quickly.
If you could spend a few minutes completing this short survey, it would help us when we discuss the increase in council tax at the Authority meeting on February 25. The closing date for completed surveys is February 12. Thank you.
Which of the following options would you support?
Option 1 – A Council Tax increase (around 5 per cent) that would broadly maintain the existing level of service
Option 2 – A higher Council Tax increase that would invest in services and recruitment of more police officers and staff
Neither of the above
Please outline the reasons for your response.
Please enter your postcode
Thank you for completing this survey. Once collated, answers to your questions and the results of the questionnaire will be available on this website or upon request.
