The Police and Crime Commissioner raised the policing element of the council tax by 19p a week (for a Band D property) for the 2022/23 financial year. His proposal was supported by the Police and Crime Panel on January 28 2022. This precept increase of 4.2%, which equates to £10 a year for a Band D property.
The agreed increase will fund the recruitment of 27 additional staff to deal with calls and contact from the public more quickly and manage resources responding to calls for service more effectively. Four additional Police Sergeants will be recruited to manage operations and the Constabulary will be able to create a digital desk to ensure it has the required capacity and capability to deal with public expectations regarding online and social media contact.
This comprehensive and ambitious programme will ensure the CCR continues to be able to deliver these essential services effectively and efficiently. The programme will be the led by the Assistant Chief Constable, with improvements being implemented in a sequenced and managed way to maintain business continuity.
In addition to the extra precept investment, the funding received through the national Operation Uplift will fund 72 more police officers in the next financial year which will bring the establishment to over 1400 fulltime officers in Suffolk by the end of March 2023.
An on-line survey held earlier this month supported the PCC’s proposal to raise the precept; of the 1,166 respondents, 62% supported the proposal.
Throughout this financial year the PCC will monitor the impact that this investment has had. Full detail of the precept plan is available here:
Precept plans 2022/23
Precept progress report to June 30 2022 (PDF, 560KB)
Precept progess report to September 30 2022 (PDF, 543KB)
Precept progress report to December 31 2023 (PDF, 543KB)
Reports detailing progress on previous years precept investment