A proposed Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary precept increase, representing £15 extra per year for Band D council taxpayers, has been endorsed by a scrutiny body.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Panel yesterday (Monday) voted for a recommendation to support setting the charge 5.45% higher for the region, despite one member flagging a ‘cost of living crisis at the moment’.
Conservative police and crime commissioner Donna Jones has proposed a precept increase alongside investment plans for £9.9million in new initiatives, including 36 additional officers.
She told the panel:
“If you look at the £15 increase that I am asking for, 62 per cent of our population will not pay that. They will pay a lesser amount because they are in bands A, B or C.
“A Band D property paying £15 extra is 36 extra pence a week – 36p a week for 36 extra officers which I hope you will agree is good value.”
Councillor Joanne Burton, a Conservative on Fareham Borough Council, said:
“Some good work has happened Donna, under your watch, bringing the bobbies on the beat, increasing numbers, improving the 101 service and that’s obviously come at the price of increasing the precept.”
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Liberal Democrat Portsmouth city councillor Kimberly Barrett said:
“We know that we’re in a cost-of-living crisis at the moment and as Donna said, pretty much austerity at the moment. We know the pressures that our residents have and are facing.
“But at the same time, as Joanne said, we can see what we lose if we don’t go ahead with this, so I think it’s really important that we support this going forward.
“From my side of things in Portsmouth, I have seen more police out on the beat which I’m really pleased with.”
Councillor Christine Guinness, a Labour Rushmoor Borough Council member, said:
“Here at Rushmoor…we’re really lacking police patrolling the streets. I appreciate you do need the money to recruit.
“We have one police community support officer to cover the whole of Farnborough, and you can understand why my residents are in the position of saying, well what are we paying for?”
I hope someone pointed out that her statement is, at best, misleading as 100% will pay the FULL 5.85% increase which is nearly DOUBLE the current rate of inflation.
36 officers would indeed be good value but no single area is going to get 36 more officers and there is no indication that the island will even get single new PCSO, let alone 36 fully qualified officers.
All bollocks.
Why? They arrest yobs, go to court, don’t do it again.
Repeat the cycle indefinitely.
If it stops speeding numpties and numpties parking illegally
great.
Worth every penny.
Roll on the island Mayor, if they are like Sadiq Khan
the island will be well run.
20mph is plenty
look i told you give it up plonker.
It’s coming, don’t be a goon all your life
20mph is plenty and you know it.
You and your bloody numpties and 20mph. You really do talk a lot of s**t.
Well of course it has ..bloody water up electric up gas up car tax up food up what a shit country we now are.
Everything goes up but nothing comes down,
except speed.
20mph is plenty
Marvelous. 36 new officers for ‘Hamsphire AND Isle of Wight’ – of which the Isle of Wight will see none….
Great, we pay for more offices in Hampshire.
We’ve had multiple precept rises in Isle of Wight council tax bills in previous years to pay for more police, yet we don’t seem to have any more now than we did years ago, in fact I’m fairly sure we have less.
So yet again, Isle of Wight residents, that can barely afford their own bills, are going to have to pay for the mainland to have more police, where’s ours?
so we have to pay more for a service we do not get, the police are not fit for purpose and neither is our pathetic clown of a pcc
Do all these extra police still come over daily from the mainland in their vehicles no wonder it costs so much!!