Council tax rise for police defended by PFCC

A £14 rise in council tax to boost police budgets is the right thing to do to protect services, Staffordshire police and fire commissioner Ben Adams has said.

The increase forms part of budget proposals for the 2025-26 financial year which include cutting up to 80 police staff roles amid a £9.9m cost-cutting drive.

Mr Adams told a police, fire and crime budget panel, that he believed the majority of residents wanted to see continued investments in Staffordshire Police.

Panel members unanimously agreed to support the proposed £14 (5.12%) precept increase, although chair Bernard Peters said there would need to be evidence collated to show the investment was getting results.

Mr Adams said: "On the face of it, it's not a lot of money. Except people are really strapped at the minute. Things are not getting easier.

"So I think very hard even about 27p a week. My concern is that it's 5.12%, which is twice inflation."

He said residents recognised an improvement in policing, adding: "they are seeing more arrests, more activity, more stop and search, better contact responses and a speedy response to 999 calls."

But he also hit out at extra government funding - £3m - being tied to specific recruitment in neighbourhood policing, warning that it could compromise other areas of policing.

Panel members heard that a nationally agreed pay increase would create a £2m budget pressure in 2025/26, while the increase in employer National Insurance contributions would cost Staffordshire Police £400,000.

The £9.9m in saving included deleting or reviewing vacant posts in areas such as the specialist crime command and public protection unit while investing in new technology.

Mr Adams said he was "very keen" to limit job cuts to vacant posts, as the force was "already lean".

"Give us the resource, set the targets, but let us get on with it," he said.

Agreeing to support the rise, Mr Peters said: "Having heard that you want to protect the service, protect the progress made, we'd like to see the investment programme linked in some way to the performance agenda that you have with the chief constable.

That would enable the panel to measure how progress was being made after a "significant" increase for Staffordshire residents.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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