Police and Crime Commissioner’s budget will protect strong local policing

Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster’s budget for policing Derbyshire in 2024-25 has been finalised.  The 2024-25 budget will enable the Chief Constable to maintain the considerable progress in service delivery made since 2021 in delivering the strong local policing that residents have said they want and expect.  

At a meeting of Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Panel, members were told that this budget has been designed to protect the significant number of improvements made over the last few years and enable a further boost to the Constabulary’s work to deliver on the key priorities that are important to the public.  It will also provide increased resources to tackle emerging challenges such as retail crime and organised crime.

The budget requirement, which was unanimously supported by Panel members, for policing Derbyshire in 2024-25 will be £232.353m.  This includes a 4.88% increase in the portion of the council tax that goes towards policing, known as the police precept.  This equates to £1.08 per month (£13 per annum) for a Band D (the average) property. The majority of properties in Derbyshire and Derby City are rated lower than a Band D and therefore will pay less.  For example, a Band A property will pay an additional 72 pence per month (£8.67 per annum).

Commissioner Angelique Foster said: “My focus is very clear.  Derbyshire residents have told me what their priorities are for policing.  These are the priorities in my Police and Crime Plan and I have put them first and foremost in my decision-making.  I welcome the tangible evidence of the progress that has been made.  

“I welcome the public’s support to maintain this momentum. My public consultation, which was open to all residents for a two-month period returned 77.4% support for an increase of £12 or more per annum. 

“We have recruited 351 new officers and more PCSOs and I’m pleased that the 2024-25 budget will keep local police in the heart of our communities.  It will also support our new specialist teams such as the Acquisitive Crime Teams, the Missing Person Team and the Rape and Sexual Assault Team, so we can build on our successes and have more capacity to tackle criminality.

“Since 2021, residents have more police in their neighbourhoods, preventing crime and arresting criminals.  Road safety, a key concern, has improved, thanks to increased enforcement measures; anti-social behaviour has halved; the investment in the dedicated Acquisitive Crime Teams ensures every burglary is thoroughly investigated; significant improvements have been made in tackling violence against women and girls; we have introduced a specialist unit to tackle violence on our streets.  Rural policing has been strengthened consistently, year on year, to see residents in our rural communities receiving a better police service. 

“This budget has been developed specifically to support and enhance the delivery of these services.   It will maintain our extra police numbers and protect the number of PCSOs, both vital elements to neighbourhood policing teams across the force area.  It will also provide increased resources to tackle emerging challenges such as retail crime and the threat from organised crime gangs.

“We all want to see strong local policing in our neighbourhoods protecting our law-abiding residents. I want to make sure our police force can and does deliver this. 

“Every penny of our budget will be used to deliver on the public’s priorities and increase visible policing to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour so that we can bring more criminals to justice.”