Council tax rise not off the table to help pay for 'underfunded' Bedfordshire Police

Another council tax increase to pay towards policing in Bedfordshire is still on the table, but the government needs to play its part to fund the local force, the police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.

This year’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) Annual Survey asks people if they would like to see Bedfordshire Police receive more funding to help cut crime – but it doesn’t say where the funding should come from.

The PCC was asked whether a majority of residents saying yes to this question would be used to justify another council tax precept rise.

“Right now, everything is on the table,” the PCC, Festus Akinbusoye, said. “I have a job to do which is to ensure that we have a well-resourced police force to meet the demands of our communities. But I also have to balance the books, so something has got to give if the resources are not there.

“I’m hoping that the same kind of increase that we got from central government last year continues this year, and the next.

“But there is no doubt in my mind, there’s some very, very, difficult budgetary implications coming from central government. What that’s going to look like and how that’s going to land, I don’t know.

“We need to be able to pay police officers better, how we’re able to afford that with inflation running in almost double figures at the moment, that is a real worry.

“I just want to make sure that residents are able to give their views about the financing of Bedfordshire Police, and I will look forward to the results,“ he said.

Would it have been clearer to residents if the question mentioned the possible funding sources so residents knew that the precept is an option?

“No,” the PCC replied. “Of course we’ve seen more and more of policing precepts contributing to police funding as a matter of percentage.

“I’ve even heard rumours of the government removing the cap on how much PCCs can increase precepts, which is fine for some police areas. We do need central government to play its part for us to be able to be a well-funded police force,” he said.

But, the PCC said, he has no plans to hold a referendum for an increase above the current maximum precept.

“The idea that I’ll be going over, let’s say it’s £10 again, that I would want to make it £11 or £15, I know how people are struggling, and I would not want to be saying to people, you’ve got to go over and above the maximum that I’m allowed,” he said.