Council tax to fund increased police precept

4:40pm Sunday 3rd February 2013 in News

Council tax payers across the Dyfed-Powys Police area will have to pay 3.9% more for the policing service they receive over the next year.

Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon has welcomed the decision by the police and crime panel to accept his proposal to increase the Dyfed- Powys Police budget by 3.9% to £98million for 2013/14.

His proposal to increase the precept, which is the part of the council tax that pays for policing, was delivered to a meeting of the panel in Aberaeron on Friday. The panel’s role is to support and challenge the work of the commissioner. The rise is smaller than in recent years.

It is equivalent to a 14.9p weekly increase or, a rise from £198 to £206 annually, for an average band D household.

The panel endorsed the rise and recommended that this would be the upper limit that was acceptable.

Mr Salmon, said: “I am acutely conscious of the pressure on family budgets in these tough times.

“In proposing the council tax precept, I have sought to balance the needs of our police service with the demands on families across Dyfed-Powys.

“I am proposing a rise of 3.9%, down from the rises of between 4.2% and 5% of recent years.

“This produces a challenging but achievable budget for Dyfed-Powys Police that will enable us to protect service to the public while minimising demands on taxpayers.

“My aim is to bring rises into line with inflation over the next four years.”

Full details are in his draft Police and Crime Plan, which is open for public consultation until February 6th.

The commissioner is urging people to share their views on the plan which is available via his website: www. dy f e d - p owys .pcc.

police.uk.

Electronic and hard copies are available on request by contacting his office by email: opcc@dyfed-powys.pnn.

police.uk or ring 01267 226440.

Comments(17)

Tina2 says...
6:20am Mon 4 Feb 13

And will we get more police officers for this extra money?

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ladybench says...
9:03am Mon 4 Feb 13

This figure is above inflation,Is the tail wagging the dog?

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KeanJo says...
9:37am Mon 4 Feb 13

We all knew the Police Commissioner,the Deputy PC and their staff and their office costs would have to paid for. Now we know how much.Totally unnecessary jobs for the politicians - again!

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ladybench says...
11:14am Mon 4 Feb 13

This amount is above inflation,is this a case of the tail wagging the dog again??

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philipw says...
1:19pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Most of the precept goes on police pensions.Not much will go on bobbies on the beat.

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conspiracy says...
2:24pm Mon 4 Feb 13

The only Police I seem to see lately are in my rear view mirror, or hiding on bends with speed guns, usually on a sunny day. Where are they when its raining, or do people not bother speeding if its cold and rainy. : )

Joking apart the Police do a fine job but we should not be paying twice for them, their full funding should come from central Government, not local taxes.

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Eckysense says...
8:55pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Sure it was reported here some weeks back that the commissioner had put a stop on appointing new police officers. A little later and he is advertising for a deputy. Surely the natural selection for deputy would be the only other candidate for the initial post unless of course the appointment is purely political? The new commissioner and deputy will be demanding offices, staff, equipment and expenses no doubt costing thousands to the tax payer of which most consider a complete waste.

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malcolm calver says...
11:38pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Time for all public servants, including the police, to tighten their belts.The more demanded by publicly funded bodies and their employees results in less money in the pockets of the rest of us, on which to spend on the things we really want or need.

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Tttoommy says...
5:38pm Tue 5 Feb 13

I'd rather the money went towaRDS A COPPERS SALARY RATHER THAN PAY MORE MONEY TO PARRY-JONES , OR any of his sort or some ruddy councillor who thinks it's right that on top of their salary which is higher than the average wage in Pembs. they can claim a meal allowance (ONE meal) than they set aside for food and drink all day for those most in need in homes etc

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malcolm calver says...
7:27am Wed 6 Feb 13

I was not suggesting that Mr Parry Jones should receive an increase in salary but taxpayer funded public workers have to be realistic. Perhaps the police should disclose the actual salaries paid to their employees and the cost of running their headquarters in Carmarthen..
I agree with Tttoommy in that there is no need for any county councillor to claim for a meal.I never claimed for any meals in the whole time I was a county councillor and for the last five years when the recession started to bite refused to attend the Christmas lunch, provided free by Pembrokeshire County Council for both councillors and their wifes/partners.

.

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timerousbeastie says...
11:32am Wed 6 Feb 13

malcolm calver wrote:
I was not suggesting that Mr Parry Jones should receive an increase in salary but taxpayer funded public workers have to be realistic. Perhaps the police should disclose the actual salaries paid to their employees and the cost of running their headquarters in Carmarthen.. I agree with Tttoommy in that there is no need for any county councillor to claim for a meal.I never claimed for any meals in the whole time I was a county councillor and for the last five years when the recession started to bite refused to attend the Christmas lunch, provided free by Pembrokeshire County Council for both councillors and their wifes/partners. .
I have no real argument regarding the need to cut waste and unneccessary expenditure and to generally tighten belts. I am a little concerned about the "them" and "us" rhetoric creeping in however from your earlier post. -- "The more demanded by publicly funded bodies and their employees results in less money in the pockets of the rest of us, on which to spend on the things we really want or need.”
-- You are of course right in your assertion, however I would argue the employees in Local Government and other sections of the public sector have been very "realistic" in their demands given they are coming up to the third anniversary of a pay freeze which amounts to a pay cut of around 11% over the period. I would also suggest that as the pay of this group which is a significant proportion of the working population of Pembrokeshire is eroded then it is enevitable that their family expenditure within pembrokeshire decreases in turn hitting business in Pembrokeshire. The main reason pockets are empty in Pembrokeshire & the rest of the country is rapacious rises in fuel; utilility and food inflation; mismanagement of the national and global economy, bailout of banks, failure of the government to tackle tax evasion from corporations and rich individuals and overseas military interventions: not increases in local taxation of around or slightly over inflation.

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Tina2 says...
7:09pm Wed 6 Feb 13

malcolm calver wrote:
I was not suggesting that Mr Parry Jones should receive an increase in salary but taxpayer funded public workers have to be realistic. Perhaps the police should disclose the actual salaries paid to their employees and the cost of running their headquarters in Carmarthen..
I agree with Tttoommy in that there is no need for any county councillor to claim for a meal.I never claimed for any meals in the whole time I was a county councillor and for the last five years when the recession started to bite refused to attend the Christmas lunch, provided free by Pembrokeshire County Council for both councillors and their wifes/partners.

.
Well I was told today that someone who is working for PCC has had a £3000 pay cut.

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Tttoommy says...
10:18pm Wed 6 Feb 13

This evening I'm watching the news about Stafford Hospital trust - senior managers didn't care that hundreds of ppl died, didn't care that they were in their own filth for days - the figures looked good, patient throughput was "efficient" and the scum at the top earned thei HUGE salaries and bonuses - I think this shows the quality of all senior managers/bosses all over the place in the UK - whether its bankers, NHS managers or council senior management - pembs councillors I PLEAD with you, stop thinking about feathering your nests, stop giving ppl the benefit of doubts and BLOODY get rid of overpaid ppl at the top - I see the Council staff at the bottom of the "food chain" are getting pay cuts so they are "inline" with other councils in wales - need I point out that parry-jones despite being chief exec of the smallest and poorest council in Wales earns more than any other council chief exec -Do I really need to point out the ruddy obvious to the thick s**** that are our councillors ?

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malcolm calver says...
6:28am Thu 7 Feb 13

The fact is we have a bloated taxpayer funded public sector which is unsustainable. A reduction in services, some of very little value, will have to take place. I would agree that many of the salaries, not only those at the very top at county hall need to be cut, as they bare no comparison with similar positions in the private sector.
The days of someone else will provide are over and we therefore need more self reliance. I ask the question why do we need a Pembrokeshire National Park Authority and over 600 community councillors in Pembrokeshire, surely the cuts should start here.
I would suggest that the significant rise in house prices is the main reason why pockets are empty in Pembrokeshire. Do not forget many obtained mortgages on the strength that house prices would keep rising, a fatal assumption

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Dave Edwards says...
9:51am Thu 7 Feb 13

It is easy to use phrases such as "bloated public sector" but no one seems able to point to the jobs and services they would do without (apart from half a dozen or so chief officers).
Malcolm suggests doing away with community councillors, but as they are unpaid we have little savings there. "Fewer beaurocrats in the NHS" is a popular cry but unless we want doctors, consultants and nurses manning the phones, booking their own appointments, seeing to leaking roofs, sorting out parking etc it is hard to imagine the NHSTrust locally spending less than the 5% of their budget that they spend at present on supporting the clinical function.
I have no doubt that there are limited savings to be made but the idea that swinging cuts will improve matters is not realistic in a county whose income and associated spendind capacity is to a large extent reliant on public sector service jobs.

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Indeview J Hudson says...
11:15am Thu 7 Feb 13

The 2013/14 revenue budget recommended by the Cabinet for Council approval has "savings " of £1.6m built in. Identified target reductions are £0.77m Efficiency/Cost Reductions, £0.46m service changes and £0.40m by managing staff vacancies

It is depressing that the budget report doesn't identify, or mention, the services that will be affected by these cuts or what the effects are likely to be. A minor detail such as this will not stop councillors from approving the budget "blind".

In the "improved" climate of challenge and effective scrutiny, the budget has been subject to vigorous scrutiny by all Overview and Scrutiny committees. Not one of them had any concerns, reservations suggestions or comment to make.

Incidentally, councillors are not allowed to claim for the cost of meals while on approved duties "in county". However, the Chairman has a civic and ceremonial budget, whereby certain councillors, civic dignitaries and highly paid officers ( from this and other counties) host and/or attend 5 star bashes at our expense. Small beer indeed.

The effect of these cuts on a council, providing services based on the lowest council tax in Wales is bound to be considerable, but remains unstated and unexplained yet is recommended for approval.

The effect on the County's economic well -being and the local firms that the council's activities support is not considered.

A small suggestion, the value of business conducted through Amazon by the council via corporate credit card purchases is considerable.
While buying locally could cost more and take longer, would the benefits in the longer term be in the county's interest?

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malcolm calver says...
11:55am Thu 7 Feb 13

I am sorry David and I know it is hard for a Labour politician to accept the fact but we have no option but to cut back. We have businesses struggling with business rates, levied on them by the government before they make a profit and here in Manorbier we have a community council with £40,000.00 in the bank asking for another £20,000 in precept and then we have the unknown cost to Pembrokeshire County Council dealing with community councils.
I notice you did not mention the Pembrokeshire National Park Authority.
Do we really think we need over 600 community councillors in Pembrokeshire Some parishes in Wales do not have community councils and do they do not seem to suffer

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