Police tax to rise next year

Panel agree 4.99 per cent increase

Residents of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will pay an extra £13.70 on their council tax bills for policing for the next year.

The Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel supported a 4.99 per cent in the police precept – the element of the council tax which part-funds the service.

It means that Band D households will pay £28.82 a month from April 2025 over 10 months instead of £27.45.

The budget for policing is being boosted by £6 million from additional council tax of second homes, some of which will be used to tackle anti-social behaviour and extend a ‘street focus’ campaign in Torquay.

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez told the panel on Friday that taxpayers’ money and the council tax windfall would stop the force cutting services, with police officer numbers maintained at the highest ever level of 3,610, extra patrols under a ‘hot spot policing’ initiative continuing, and more enquiry offices opening in Ivybridge, Tavistock, Exeter and Liskeard.

Her police and crime plan has a focus on tackling burglary and shoplifting, and reducing violence and anti-social behaviour.

Ms Hernandez said the force needs to save £6.5 million in the next financial year, a third of which is expected to be made by reducing senior roles to put more bobbies on the beat.

Interim chief constable James Vaughan, who is heading the service whilst chief constable Will Kerr remains suspended announced plans to put at least 60 constables back on the frontline across the two counties as he believes the force is “top heavy.”

It is to be subject to a “rank review”.

The force could also get additional officers as the government doubles national funding for neighbourhood policing.

Mr Vaughan said visible policing is strong in Devon and Cornwall and he is determine to build on it.

He said he will drive urgent performance improvements to enable the force to come out of “enhanced monitoring” by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

Whilst the force has improved call handling and how it manages violent and sexual offenders, it is in special measures for the way it records crime and its standards of investigations.

A salary allowance of around £55,000 has been kept in the budget for  a deputy police and crime commissioner. Ms Hernandez hasn’t decided whether to reappoint someone into the role, following the resignation of Mark Kingscote in December after just five months into the job.

She said the force is facing challenges from staff pay rises and from not having all the forthcoming employers’ national insurance increase funded by the government.

Starting salaries for police officers have risen from £19,000 to £30,000 since she was first elected in 2016.

And she told the panel that the cost of paying three chief constables is “an eyewatering” £70,000 a month.

As well the main postholder Will Kerr, who was suspended in July 2023 over allegations of sexual offences in Northern Ireland, which he strongly denies, acting chief constable Jim Colwell was suspended in November over claims that he used his work mobile phone for personal messages.

He is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for alleged breaches of professional standards.

Former Dorset chief constable JamesVaughan was hired to lead the force shortly after.

Both Mr Colwell and Mr Kerr continue to receive full pay of roughly £180,000 a year each.

Ms Hernandez is looking into whether Mr Colwell can revert to his substantive post of deputy chief constable, now Mr Vaughan is in post, to save on payments.

She told the panel that policing “remained unaffected by the turbulence” but good work such as the victim support service and improvements in call handling had been overshadowed by “unprecedented times” and the absence of police leadership.

Panel members questioned whether the second homes windfall should have been used to reduce the amount people pay for policing in their council tax, and why the costs of the office of the police and crime commissioner had just about doubled from £1.6 million to £3 million annually in eight years.

Cllr Chris Penberthy (Lab, St Peter and the Waterfront, Plymouth) said the office takes taxpayers’ money that could be used on policing.

Ms Hernandez said more rules around police misconduct panels were costly and this accounted for an extra £200,000 in her office budget for next year.