Plan to protect improved policing confirmed at Panel meeting

Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer today (3 February) presented his proposal for next year’s police precept to the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel.

The Commissioner proposed to increase the police precept – the part of Council Tax that funds Cheshire Constabulary - by £15 per year for a Band D property, following a public survey where 76% of residents backed such an increase or more. With two thirds of Cheshire properties falling in bands A-C, the majority of households will pay less.

Confirmation of the Commissioner’s proposal now means more than £7 million in extra funding will help the police tackle around £14 million in additional costs caused by inflation. The overall budget set by the Commissioner prioritises protecting recent improvements including reduced call waiting times, quicker incident response times, and increased arrest and charge rates.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said:

“Residents should be in no doubt as to the difference their contribution via the police precept makes. For example, it’s enabled us to hire the extra call handlers who have brought 101 waiting times down significantly, and we’ve also more than quadrupled the size of our Online Child Abuse Investigation Team to combat the growing threat that online predators pose to our children.

“Setting the precept is not a responsibility I take lightly, and I know any increase will impact people differently. That’s why I wanted to get as many views as possible in my survey and I am delighted with the emphatic backing people gave to my proposal.

“I am pleased that I can formally set a budget that gives our police service the resources it needs.”

Confirmation of the proposed precept follows news that Cheshire has seen the lowest rise in crime in the country of just 1.4% - compared to the national average of 12.4% - with certain types of crime such as burglary (-2.4%) and residential burglary (-5.2%) falling.

John Dwyer added:

“This is further proof that public investment in our police service through the precept makes a real difference. People can be reassured that we are succeeding in our mission to make Cheshire a hostile environment for criminals.

“I am committed to working with Chief Constable Mark Roberts, our record high number of Officers, and everyone in the Cheshire Police family to achieve the aims set out in the Police and Crime Plan and make Cheshire even safer.”

Answers to frequently asked questions about the budget are available at: 

www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-the-commissioner-does/setting-the-police-budget/budget-2023-24

The results of the Commissioner’s survey can be found at: 

www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/get-involved/have-your-say/outcomes-and-results

Pictured - Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer.