GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council’s Police and Crime Panel has unanimously backed Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl’s proposal for a 5.6 percent increase in what local taxpayers pay for the police.

Adding an extra £1 per month or £12 to a band D householder’s annual bill will give the police a budget of around £109m for the current financial year.

Taking into account rising inflation and the pay increase already agreed by the Government, it will give the constabulary an extra £1.7m to invest.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martin Surl said: “The Government announced before Christmas there would be no more money for policing in Gloucestershire through national taxation but instead gave PCCs permission to increase the portion of council tax that pays for it.

"The figure proposed by the Home Office for Gloucestershire was 5.6 percent.

“Like all other public bodies that have had to tighten their belts, the constabulary has made £30m in cuts in the last seven years.

"However, unlike some forces, and thanks to careful management of our finances during that period, we are now in a position to use the extra revenue raised to improve services and not just plug gaps in spending.

“I am committed to improving our neighbourhood policing and the chief constable has made a strong case for further investment that will enhance links with our communities. Some of the money raised will be invested in 16 new neighbourhood posts.

"The rest will go towards child protection and tackling child sexual exploitation; providing officers with body worn videos and making improvements to the role played by police in the criminal justice system."

The proposals agreed also provide for 1 percent of the policing budget to be made available to continue to support community projects and programmes managed through the commissioner’s Fund.

It is an approach to crime reduction, the concept and scale of which is unique to Gloucestershire that now funds more than 400 local initiatives countywide.