Police boss plans another TAX HIKE to fund more officers in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd said he made the decision after residents gave "their strong backing" to increase the precept.

The increase will generate an additional £4.5m which will support the force’s additional 91 officers in Hertfordshire and meet policing demands.

Mr Lloyd said: “This year we have been given a transformational grant from the Government which is enabling us to plan for an additional 91 officers this year, with more to come.

“I have decided to follow this positive commitment to our policing by proposing an increase in the precept by £10 a year, which works out at less than 20p a week.

“My public consultation showed that two thirds of residents were willing to pay more to protect and assist Hertfordshire’s policing service to keep everyone safe.

“The extra funding will support the expanding police force, invest in a better complaints system and prevent even more people from becoming victims.”

If approved by the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Panel next month, it will mean the precept for the average Band D property will increase from the current £188 a year to £198. Hertfordshire will remain one of the lowest precepts in the country.

A public consultation earlier this month received over 1,000 replies with more than 65 per cent saying they supported a local rise in the Council Tax.

Hertfordshire is on track by April to recruit the 75 extra officers promised last year, and with 2,000 already in post it is at its highest frontline strength since 2011.

Mr Lloyd wrote an Open Letter in December setting out his proposed plans and promised the public could have their say again after the final figures were revealed.

Any comments on the proposals are welcome at [email protected].

A full summary of the public consultation and proposed budget will be available on the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Panel website www.hertspcp.org.uk and will be discussed at the Panel meeting at Broxbourne Borough Council offices on February 6, 2020, where their formal approval of the plan will be sought.