Sussex PCC to go for maximum police precept on council tax bills

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has announced that she will ask the Police & Crime Panel next Friday to authorise the maximum £12/household/year precept on council tax bills of Band D and above.

Last month the Home Secretary Amber Rudd increased the maximum from £5 to £12 to help plug the shortfall in funding brought about by ten years of austerity. Despite using over £17m of reserves and identifying substantial cuts Sussex Police is facing a funding shortfall of over £26m.

The increased precept for policing is anticipated to safeguard 480 officer and civilian posts in the force which would otherwise have to be lost over the next four years.

The government has made it clear that an increasing amount of funding for police forces will have to come from the local community.