4.8% rise in Cambridgeshire police precept approved as commissioner reports record numbers of officers on streets

Cambridgeshire council tax payers will pay 4.8 per cent more towards policing services from April.

The rise in bills equates to £13 a year for the average Band D household - or 25p a week.

Conservative police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston had warned it would be impossible to protect policing services at their current levels and maintain performance improvements from the last year without the rise.

Following approval of the decision last week, he said: “I am pleased the police and crime panel has endorsed my budget plans for 2024-25. Resourcing the police is crucial for driving further cuts in crime and protecting our future resilience against the growing demands of violent crime, fraud and cybercrime and call-handling pressures. Without extra funds to support improvement, the only alternative is a reduction in our policing service which nobody wants to see.

“The cost-of-living crisis is putting a strain on all household budgets and policing is no exception. I am grateful for the public’s understanding of the difficulties we face in balancing the books and ensuring the force remains well-equipped to fight crime and secure justice for victims effectively in the future.

“The force has made it clear it will continue to seek out new and efficient ways of working to identify further cost savings that can be redirected into community policing, and I fully support this.

“I am extremely proud of the progress made over the past 12 months and I have no doubt that the record numbers of officers on our streets - 1,343 in 2015, and 1,732 now – have played their part.

“As many more officers conclude their initial training, the force will find itself in an even stronger position to deliver a visible and accessible presence in our neighbourhoods to tackle the issues that matter most to the public.”

Budget documents show the police force can expect £87.3million income from council tax in the 2024-5 financial year and a government funding settlement of £109.9m, totalling £197.1m overall.

The commissioner says the force has helped cut neighbourhood crime by 23 per cent and rural crime by 21 per cent in comparison to pre-Covid times, while investing £10.2m since 2021 in supporting victims of crime, through services such as the Cambridge and Peterborough Rape Crisis Partnership to continue.

Some £820,000 has gone towards the county’s six community safety partnerships between 2022-25, funding dedicated ‘problem-solving co-ordinators’ to work with communities and partners to resolve issues such as anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.

The commissioner also reported that in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in the year to 30 September, 2023, compared to 2019, there has been a:

- 37 per cent drop in residential burglary offences
- 15 per cent drop in personal robbery offences
- 12 per cent drop in theft from the person offences
- 48 per cent drop in hare coursing and poaching
- 57 per cent reduction for cycle theft in Cambridge city.