Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster has published details of the budget for policing Derbyshire in 2024-25. The 2024-25 budget will enable the Chief Constable to maintain the considerable progress in service delivery made since 2021 in delivering the strong local policing that residents have said they want and expect.
The Commissioner, in setting the budget for the next financial year, made it clear that she expects to see consistent evidence that the Constabulary continues to maximise the investment and provide value for money for the taxpayer.
At a meeting held this week, the Commissioner welcomed the many positive outcomes resulting from her 2023-24 budget including the recruitment of 351 new officers and more PCSOs; the trailblazing approach which has seen anti-social behaviour (ASB) fall by 50%;the investment in the dedicated Acquisitive Crime Team to ensure every burglary is thoroughly investigated; and the increase in traffic enforcement and other measures which have seen a 22% reduction in fatal collisions on our roads.
Other areas highlighted include the reduction in 101 and 999 waiting times; the distribution of 800 laptops to keep officers out in communities for longer; 125 officers trained in initial pursuit training; 120 additional officers trained in taser use; increased capacity to tackle rural crime; and the strengthened approach to preventing crime and catching criminals.
In the coming year, the Commissioner’s budget is designed to protect these positive outcomes and enable a further boost to the Constabulary’s work to deliver on the key priorities that are important to the public.
The budget requirement for policing Derbyshire in 2024-25 will be £232.353m. This includes a 4.88% increase in the portion of the council tax that goes towards policing, known as the police precept. This equates to £1.08 per month (£13 per annum) for a Band D (the average) property. The majority of properties in Derbyshire and Derby City are rated lower than a Band D and therefore will pay less. For example, a Band A property will pay an additional 72 pence per month (£8.67 per annum).
A two-month public consultation, carried out online and face to face, showed strong support for an increase in funding. It returned a 77.4% approval rating for an increase of £12 or more.
Commissioner Angelique Foster said: “Derbyshire residents have been clear about the priorities for their police service and these are at the heart of my Police and Crime Plan. We have seen tangible evidence of the progress that has been made against those expectations.
“It is vital that we maintain this momentum. The 2024-25 budget will enable the improvements that have been made in frontline policing, keeping local police in the heart of our communities to be maintained. It will support our new specialist teams such as the Acquisitive Crime Team, the Missing Person Team and the Rape and Sexual Assault Team, so we can build on our successes and have more capacity to tackle criminality.
“Since 2021, residents have more police in their neighbourhoods, preventing crime and arresting criminals. Road safety, a key concern, has improved, thanks to increased enforcement measures; anti-social behaviour has halved; significant improvements have been made in tackling violence against women and girls; we have introduced a specialist unit to tackle violence on our streets. Rural policing has been strengthened consistently, year on year, to see residents in our rural communities receiving a better police service.
“This budget has been developed specifically to support and enhance the delivery of these services. It will maintain our extra police numbers and protect the number of PCSOs, both vital elements to neighbourhood policing teams across the force area.
“There is an expectation on the Force however that they continue to explore opportunities for efficiencies that do not impact negatively on the quality of policing services delivered across the county and city and I will monitor this over the coming months.
“We all want to see strong local policing in our neighbourhoods protecting our law-abiding residents. I want to make sure our police force can and does deliver this.
“Every penny of our budget will be used to deliver on the public’s priorities and increase visible policing to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour so that we can bring more criminals to justice.”
In accordance with the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act, the Commissioner will now present her budget to the Police and Crime Panel at a meeting due to take place on Thursday, January 25th.
The video of the meeting and the reports can be downloaded at:
As published on the Derbyshire OPCC Website 19th January 2024