Council tax increase for GMP approved after protesters interrupt meeting

A council tax rise for residents in Greater Manchester has been approved at a meeting which was interrupted by a protest from members of the public.

The police precept part of the council tax bill will go up by £10 for Band D properties from April – the maximum increase permitted by law next year.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham defended the hike at a police, fire and crime panel meeting on Monday (31 January) saying it is the ‘right time’.

It comes as the force is still in special measures following a damning report by inspectors which found 80,000 crimes had not been recorded in 12 months.

But the meeting was temporarily suspended after protesters sat in the public gallery criticised the mayor for not consulting residents enough about the rise.

The protesters also spoke about ‘institutional racism’ in the police force and claimed some members of the public had not been allowed into the meeting.

Dr Kerry Pimblott, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Northern Police Monitoring Project, said some protesters had signs – but they were removed.

She said: “It was palpable in the room that there was concern from members of the public that what was expressed in the consultation was not being reflected.”

Burnham apologised that the ‘short’ public consultation only lasted 10 days.

In total, 1,096 people responded to the consultation, according to a report.

The Labour mayor conceded that only 23% of those respondents supported the proposal to increase the police precept, while 30% wanted to freeze it.

But Burnham – who offered to meet with the protesters – defended the move.

He said: “It’s a challenging time at the moment to consult on any increase and it’s obviously difficult to get support for any increase or raising of council tax.

“But having not given the police force the full increase last year and that causing a financial pressure that they’ve had to deal with, I do think it’s right this year to back them with the full increase.”

The Greater Manchester mayor spoke of ‘green shoots’ which show that the police force is finally now moving in the right direction under new leadership.

He said the extra council tax revenue would fund the ‘transformation’ of the police contact centre and speed up response times to 999 and 101 calls.

Together with the central government policing grant, the increased funding from the precept would fund 438 additional police officers of which 60 would be dedicated to road safety freeing up officers to focus on public transport.

The funding would also allow the force to continue with the new Operation Avro days of action which see a ‘surge’ of officers and specially trained teams dealing with issues communities tell the force they want to see dealt with.

And it would also fund a community messaging system that neighbourhood policing teams would use to inform the public about what they are doing.

The panel unanimously agreed to the mayor’s proposal to increase the police precept which will cost an additional 56p per month for a Band A property – which is what 45% of council taxpayers in Greater Manchester would pay.

The panel also heard that a review of the problematic PoliceWorks part of the IOPS computer system is now complete and being ‘packaged’ up in a report which should be delivered to the mayor within the next few ‘weeks and days’.

The latest report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which follows a further visit last summer is also expected to be published shortly.

 

 

Chief constable Stephen Watson warned the panel it ‘won’t be good news’.

A further council tax rise of £12 for the mayor’s general budget has been proposed and is expected to be approved at another meeting in February.

The precept increase, along with the central Government policing grant, will fund:

The transformation of the GMP contact centre that deals with 999 and 101 calls. The investment will increase staffing levels and flexibility to ensure calls are answered quickly and police officers are sent to those in need immediately.

438 additional police officers, with 60 of them dedicated to road safety which will allow travel safe officers to focus on other policing such as public transport safety.

Continuation of the new Operation Avro days of action. These days which will take place in each area of Greater Manchester will see a surge of officers and specially trained teams dealing with issues communities tell GMP they want to see dealt with.

A community messaging system that Neighbourhood Policing Teams will use to inform local communities about what they are doing and that the public can use to get more involved in working with local police officers to identify issues of concern within the locality.

The current police precept for a Band D property is £218.30 which would increase next year to £228.30 a year and a Band A property will go up from £145.53 to £152.20. 

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Last year, I made the decision not to increase the police precept by the maximum amount allowed. This was because I wanted to send a clear message to GMP that improvements were needed following a difficult inspection.

“Under our new Chief Constable, we are beginning to see real change and, in my judgment, this is the time to back him, his plan and our police force. 

“This increase in the precept will help us to deliver a transformation of GMP’s contact centre, including improvements to the handling of 999 and 101 calls, to give the public the confidence that their calls will be dealt with swiftly and officers sent immediately to those in need.

“I wish to thank the members of the Police, Crime and Fire Panel for their unanimous support at today’s meeting and the Greater Manchester public for their ongoing support.”

Chair of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel, Janet Emsley, said: “The panel agreed to endorse the Mayor’s proposal to increase the police precept because we believe it is right that our police have the resources they need to do the job we expect them to do and make the improvements HMICFRS has asked of them. We want the public to have confidence in policing in Greater Manchester so we need to give them the tools to do that and keep our community safe.”

Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporter

Additional reporting: Rochdale Online News