Commissioner proposes increases for Police and Fire precepts in Northamptonshire

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone is asking for a £15 a year increase for Policing, and a £12 a year increase for Fire, in the next council tax precepts – the part of council tax bills that funds your local emergency services.

Danielle is asking for the maximum amount allowed for Police, with the proposed increase seeing an average Band D household pay £335 a year towards policing, an annual increase of 4.69%, or 29p a week extra.

Even with this increase, the Chief Constable will need to make savings of more than £4million to balance the budget.

Danielle said she would continue to lobby for a fairer funding formula for Northamptonshire Police.

The proposed £12 a year increase for Fire is well above the Government’s suggested level of £5, but the Commissioner has written to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, requesting flexibility to ask for more.

The Fire Service has already found savings of £2.3million in the past 12 months, which goes some way to meeting the challenge. 

An increase of £5 would still leave a funding gap of £1.6million, while the proposed increase would balance the budget without the need to cut services.

The proposals will be discussed at the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel meeting on Wednesday February 4.