How much will the police cost you next year?

Commissioner to set out budget as second home owners pay up for the first time

Households across Devon will be asked to chip in more money to pay for police services in the coming year - and for the first time people with second homes in holiday hotspots will be expected to pull their weight too.

The county’s police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez will set out her plans for the coming year at a meeting of the police and crime panel in Plymouth on Friday.

Her area covers Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and she says she plans to use an extra tax on second homes towards expanding street patrols to combat anti-social behaviour.

The charge on second home owners, most of them from outside the westcountry, will raise an extra £6 million a year for policing. For the first time this year they will pay double council tax bills as a way for local councils to ensure well-heeled property owners pay their share for the services they use while on holiday in the south west.

Ms Hernandez said: “This windfall, and the fact we have one of the highest proportions of second homes in the country, presents an opportunity to invest in the types of policing that are right for residents and visitors.

“I am confident that the public I represent think this is the right approach too, as 67 per cent of those questioned supported the principle of this windfall being used to fund more police on the streets.”

Police on the streets in Barnstaple (Image courtesy: Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCC)

At Friday’s meeting the commissioner will set out a 4.99 per cent increase of £13.70 per household per year in the share of the council tax bill that goes towards the police.

For a Band D property that means the amount going towards police services rising from £274.50 to £288.20. That money will be added to the ‘precepts’ which go from households to local councils and the fire service.

Writing in her weekly column, Ms Hernandez went on: “The second homes windfall, combined with this increase to the monies raised locally, will enable us to mitigate against the rising cost of policing and challenges like the increase in national insurance which will have to be met.

“Other forces are making the difficult decision to cut police staff numbers and put more sworn officers in back office positions, but that is not where I think they should be and it’s not where the public want them

“These officers need to be on our streets where they can bear down on crime and antisocial behaviour.”