A PUBLIC consultation has begun into a possible Council Tax rise to cover the

costs of policing in Gloucestershire.

If a two per cent rise happens, it would mean an average Band D property in the Forest of Dean will pay around an extra £4.15 per year based on 2015/2016 charges.

Policing is funded in two ways, through local council taxes and a grant from the Home Office. However, the Government is not expected to announce how much grant the police will get until just before Christmas.

Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime commissioner, Martin Surl said: "The Chief Constable made it clear when I rejected her case for a two per cent increase last year and froze the precept, that she would be making a similar argument again this year. I will consider that case on its merits while getting the public’s views as well.

“Like all public sector bodies, the police have made big cuts in recent years – around £20m since 2011. For an organisation with a budget of just over £100m that is a considerable reduction. Those cuts were made against the government’s expectation the deficit would be cleared by now but it’s not worked out that way. 

“We have been warned we can expect to be told to save in the region of another £20m. The problem the Chief Constable and I have is that we won’t be told exactly how much and how until we get the results of the chancellor’s spending review in December and there’s not much time to finalise the budget after that.

“The police are not asking to be a special case but the range of crimes they now have to deal with is wider than ever. Things like child sexual exploitation, people trafficking, online sexploitation and ‘honour’ based violence were unheard of until fairly recently and it’s the job of the police to protect the public from these and many other things.”

As well as income, the police budget must also take into account pay rises, pegged by the Government at one per cent for the next four years, and inflation. Forecasts have been prepared showing the effect of a Council Tax freeze for three years and a two per cent increase for the same period.

Among the options being considered: a council tax freeze would mean the police having to save a further £13m over the next three years; a two per cent increase in council tax would reduce the figure to £10m. This is on top of the £5m cut from this year’s budget and savings of £20m for the four years from 2011/12 to 2014/15.