PCC asking if we're willing to pay more for policing

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner is asking all residents to use their voices and identify how much extra they would be prepared to pay for policing – and why.

PCC Philip Wilkinson’s annual Use Your Voice: Budget and Precept survey has launched and seeks the views of residents and stakeholders as the budget for policing and commissioned services for the next financial year is developed.

Respondents are asked whether their household would be prepared to invest more in policing through the police precept element of their council tax.

This, alongside a grant from the government, accounts for the entire budget for policing in the county. As it stands, due to the national police funding formula, Wiltshire Police is the third lowest-funded police force in the country per head of capita.

A Band D household currently pays £269 per year for policing, and Mr Wilkinson is looking at options to increase this by just over 5% - £14 per year extra, or an additional £1.16 a month. This is the most that can be asked for without a Local Referendum.

Mr Wilkinson said: “Wiltshire Police is on an improvement journey: it is now functioning as it should, with the highest number of police officers in a decade. We have better training and development of officers, staff and volunteers, improved visibility in, and engagement with, communities, improving 101 and 999 response call times and increasing justice outcomes across many areas.

“All of this hard work and improvements has resulted in the Force being lifted from the Engage status earlier this year.

“However, none of this has come without a cost. There has had to be significant investment in Wiltshire Police to ensure our communities not only are safer places to live, work and visit but so residents are also feeling safer too.

“Just before Christmas, Wiltshire Police received its settlement grant from Government – one of the core funding components of our police budget.

“Although presented as increase much of what was given with one hand has been taken away by the other – ringfenced money for additional neighbourhood policing alongside allowances to pay for public sector pay increases awarded this year and next, and to pay additional National Insurance contributions that all organisations have had levied.

“We are currently working through what this means for Wiltshire Police, in real terms, and we will be able to discuss this in more detail as we run through the budget process in the early part of the New Year.

“However, our residents can be assured that my, and the Chief Constable’s, commitment to transformation and investment in Wiltshire Police - so it can be the most effective and efficient police force - remains.”

Wiltshire Police’s budget is set by Mr Wilkinson but is based upon the operational policing advice from the Chief Constable and informed by the consultation with residents and stakeholders - carried out across the last year during both election periods and via his Use Your Voice survey.

Mr Wilkinson added: “Now, more than ever before, it is vital for policing across our county that we make the right decisions so we can continue with Wiltshire Police’s improvement and transformation journey and so that our communities can continue to feel the effects of the improving police service Wiltshire is providing.

“Continuing investment would allow us to continue driving transformation within Wiltshire Police, ensuring it becomes one of the most effective and efficient forces in the country.

“Without continued investment and a transformative approach to policing, we risk losing momentum in our improvement journey. The strides we have made in officer visibility, community engagement, and service delivery would be harder to sustain - which is simply not an  acceptable way forward for me or the Chief Constable.” 

The survey runs until Friday, 31st January 20,25 and can be accessed here: Use Your Voice: Precept and Budget survey

Mr Wilkinson, as well as his team, will be at several Area Boards and events across January, looking to hear from as many people as possible about the budget for next year and into the future. You can look at dates and times for these here: 

Detailed information about the police budget for the next year – and into the future – will be available from mid-January, when it will be discussed at Wiltshire and Swindon’s Police and Crime Panel.