Hampshire MPs back police tax rise

Simon Hayes, the independent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), has proposed a 1.99 per cent increase in the police precept from April, to raise £2m for the cash-strapped force.

Even with the rise – just £3.07 a year for an average Band D household for council tax – Hampshire must still make £10.5m of cuts next year, after its Government grant was cut.

And Mr Hayes expects to shed a further 535 staff over two years, including some frontline officers – making a staggering total of 1,400 job losses since 2010.

Speaking after meeting the Commissioner at Westminster, both Conservative and Labour MPs backed the precept hike as necessary.

Romsey and Southampton North MP Caroline Nokes

Conservative Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) said: “If that’s what it takes to keep frontline officers in Southampton and Romsey, then I’m happy to support it."

Winchester MP Steve Brine

Fellow Tory Steve Brine (Winchester) also backed a rise, saying: “Simon wants to protect neighbourhood policing and reduce re-offending, which are also my priorities.”

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham

Labour MP John Denham (Southampton Itchen) said there would be no need for cuts in police numbers if PCCs – which cost £80m across the country - were axed.

But he said: “I understand why Simon wants to raise the precept, given the problems he faces in making savings.”

Mr Hayes said he told the MPs that he saw no alternative to the 1.99 per cent rise – the maximum allowed by Government rules without calling a county-wide referendum.

The force had already made savings of £55m over the last four years, but the “low hanging fruit” – sharing back office work with councils, IT improvements – had been picked off.

The Home Office is offering a higher grant in return for a precept freeze, but it was worth only £1m – and, crucially, would be for one year only.

Simon Hayes

The Commissioner said: “That would mean that, next year, we would lose £1m out of our base budget.

“We can manage in the foreseeable future, but - in three or four years - we will be in very real difficulty if those large reductions in grant continue and we don’t raise the precept.

“Already, we have picked the low hanging fruit and we can’t do that again. If we have to make savings of £12.5m a year, then that has to come from spending on employees.”

The meeting was held three days before Mr Hayes takes his proposal to councillors on Hampshire’s police and crime panel, which scrutinises the PCC.

Last month, the Daily Echo revealed how an Independent Advisory Group fears Hampshire police is at “very significant risk” because of savage funding cuts.