Seven out of ten Cambridgeshire residents agree proposed police council tax rise 'good value for money'

The survey, which ran online for two weeks from January 5, asked members of the public whether they thought an increase of £1.25 per month to the policing part of council tax (known as the precept and based on a Band D property) was value for money.

The Acting Police and Crime Commissioner Ray Bisby is required by law to set the budget for Cambridgeshire Constabulary and, as part of this, determine how much people living in the county contribute to policing in their council tax each year.

If raised by this amount, the increase will enable the Chief Constable to implement a number of improvements to the service the public receive including:

Additional call handlers

Additional support for responding to calls for service from the vulnerable

Cyber, online prevention officers

Digital Media Investigators

Increased capacity for handling digital contact from the public

Additional Support for the development of frontline officers

The survey also included a number of additional questions seeking the public’s views with regards to policing and crime and how safe they feel in their communities.

Acting Commissioner, Ray Bisby said: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete my survey. It is difficult to ask people to pay more money towards services, particularly with the economic hardship some find themselves in due to the ongoing pandemic, however it is vital that we do everything we can to make sure our police force is as effective and efficient as it can be so that people living and working in Cambridgeshire continue to receive the best possible service.

“The views expressed within the survey will inform my final decision on how much to raise the policing part of the council tax.”

A total of 1,270 people responded to the survey from across Cambridgeshire and of those, 70.06% agreed that the proposed increase was value for money.

The Acting Commissioner’s proposal, for the policing part of council tax to be raised by £1.25 per month (based on a Band D property) was approved at his Business Coordination Board meeting held on Wednesday January 20 with senior officers from the Constabulary. A full report on the Acting Commissioner’s survey will now be submitted to the Police and Crime Panel for their meeting on February 3 where the proposed precept will be scrutinised by the Panel who can either support the proposal or veto it.