Archived decisions
COUNTY MEETING, 25 FEBRUARY 2004
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING
25 FEBRUARY 2004
REPORT OF THE HAMPSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY
COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT 2004/05
1. The Authority has considered in detail its budgetary options for 2004/05. Net expenditure on police services is estimated to be £260.5m in 2004/05, an increase of £12,9m (or 5.2%) over that for the current year.
2. General Government Grants have increased by 3.3% and amount to £190.5m in 2004/05. The amount required to be raised by the Council Tax Precept is £69.9m, an increase of £7.1m. This results in an increased Council Tax at Band D of £106.83 per annum. This is an increase of just 18p per week (£9.54 per year or 9.8% more than the current Council Tax). This follows detailed discussions by the Authority with the Constabulary which resulted in a reduction in the current policies budget (6% budget increase and 12.9% Council Tax increase) to the lower proposal agreed.
3. Although all the figures are not yet available from other Police Authorities in England and Wales, on the basis of what is available, Hampshire should remain in or close to the lower quartile of precept levels and have about a mid-range increase over last year.
4. Once again, the Authority has made strong representations to the Government about the settlement and has endeavoured to raise awareness of its potential impact on next year's budget as widely as possible, including Members of Parliament in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
5. One of the Authority's key concerns was the mistaken inclusion by the Home Office of the promised specific revenue grant for Airwaves in the general grant distribution for 2004/05. The amount involved for the Authority is £1.8m and the Home Office has proposed a combination of revenue and capital specific grant of £1.8m to cover the shortfall in this revenue grant (£0.88m will be provided by way of additional revenue grant in the current year and £0.95m additional capital grant in 2004/05). Although this helps those Authorities who make revenue contributions to capital greater than the amount of this grant, for Authorities like Hampshire where this is not case, the general reserve will need to be used to convert capital back to revenue.
6. Despite the strong representations by this and other Police Authorities and by the Association of Police Authorities, the final settlement, announced on 29 January 2004, largely confirmed the formula changes set out in the provisional settlement which has resulted in the increase in the precept as outlined above.
COUNTY MEETING, 25 FEBRUARY 2004
ANNUAL POLICING PLAN 2004/05
1. Under the terms of the Police Act 1996, the Authority has adopted its Annual Policing Plan for 2004/05. The Act states that the Authority must publish a Plan which sets out the policing priorities for the year ahead and informs the public of the services they can expect from their police force. This Plan also incorporates the Authority's Best Value Plan and sets out its Efficiency Plan in response to the Home Secretary's annual requirement for the police service to demonstrate how it will achieve efficiency gains equivalent to 2% of annual expenditure.
2. The Plan includes Government priorities set out at a national level but it also recognises that policing is best delivered when it takes account of, and responds to, specific local needs. In this respect, the views of local communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, obtained through extensive consultation, are reflected in the local policing priorities set by the Authority.
3. The Annual Policing Plan will be placed on the Authority's website from 1 April 2004 and available on request from the Authority's office.
Councillor Simon Hayes,
Chairman
4IR830204