- A commitment to maintain officer levels at the highest in the Force's history
- The creation of a new Force Air Support Unit
- The opening of a new road policing unit at Wynyard
- Continued roll-out of state-of-the-art mobile technology for officers on the beat
Those are amongst the spending proposals for the coming year agreed today (February 26th) by Members of Cleveland Police Authority in a budget described by Authority Chair Dave McLuckie as 'a blueprint for delivering both quality services and value for money.'
The total budget for the coming year is just under £147million with just over £31million contributed from the Council, Tax precept. Members of the Authority agreed a precept increase of 4.95 per cent -- for the majority of Council Taxpayers in Cleveland that is equivalent to a rise of just 11pence per week.
Said Councillor McLuckie "These are challenging times for everyone and what we sought to achieve in this budget is to strike the right balance between ensuring that we can maintain the commitment to maximising front-line policing, giving our officers the tools to do the job -- and seeking a modest investment from Council Tax payers.
"Of course, nobody likes any increase, but I believe that the vast majority of the public will see paying a few more pence a week to keep driving down crime and improving community safety as a price worth paying.
"As an Authority and a Force -- working with our partners -- we have proved in recent years that we can deliver. Right across the board we have achieved major reductions in crime. Last month saw a fall of 17 per cent and we are working towards a 20 per cent reduction by the end of the current financial year in March.
"Those kinds of reductions really do affect the quality of life for local people -- they mean that there will have been 11,300 fewer victims of crime than in the previous year.
"We must keep moving forward which is why today we have agreed a budget which will see us take the major step of setting up our new air support unit from April -- and earlier this week the Government announced that it will be making a significant contribution to the cost of obtaining the new helicopter we will have coming into service in two years' time.
"Modern policing requires investment in modern facilities and technology. and the coming year will see us providing many more officers with the mobile technology which delivers both improved front-line policing and reduces time spent on administrative tasks.
"In recent years we have made dramatic improvements in the quality of our buildings, with new district headquarters in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland and major upgrades of facilities in Stockton and Hartlepool. We also recognise that we need a Force headquarters to meet Twenty First Century requirements and today we have agreed to again test the market for the potential sale of our existing site at Ladgate Lane in Middlesbrough.
"In recent days there have been many reports of financial problems and officer cutbacks affecting some parts of the country. The budget we have agreed today means that our record numbers of 1,727 police officers and 197 Community Support Officers will be maintained -- as will the commitment to driving down crime and improving the quality of life for the public we serve".
Added Chief Constable Sean Price said: "One of our key priorities is to protect police numbers during this difficult financial climate, and the budget allows us to do that while keeping precept increases as low as possible.
"We realise that in these uncertain times every penny counts to the public and therefore we will spending their money wisely to give them the visible, accessible police force they want and deserve.
"We are also working closely with our partner agencies to deliver a citizen focused policing service to all our neighbourhoods.
"Putting People First is what Cleveland Police is all about, and the hard work done in recent years has seen a sustained reduction in crime. This budget will allow us to build on that progress while safeguarding police numbers."
26-2-09
INFORMATION NOTE: By law Band D is set as the benchmark for Council Tax calculations but in Cleveland only a small minority of properties fall into Band D or above, with the majority in the lowest Band A.
The annual police Council Tax precept levels for the coming year are as follows:
Band A £121.65 (an increase of £5.74 a year/11p per week)
Band B £141.92 (an increase of £6.69 a year/13p per week)
Band C £162.20 (an increase of £7.65 a year/15p per week)
Band D £182.47 (an increase of £8.61 a year/ 17p per week)
Band E £232.02 (an increase of £10.52 a year/20p per week)
Band F £263.57 (an increase of £12.43 a year/24p per week)
Band G £304.12 (an increase of £14.34 a year/28p per week)
Band H £364.95 (an increase of £17.21 a year/33p per week)