Andy Burnham asks taxpayers for at least £9 more a year to help fund police

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham wants to increase the police element of council tax bills, saying it’s ‘vital to maintain GMP’s improvement’.

The amount paid towards Greater Manchester Police is set to rise by £14 for a Band D property, to just over £270 annually.

Most households in Greater Manchester are in the lower Bands A and B, with Band B properties seeing their ‘police precept’ rise by £10.89.

That means a Band B home will now pay more than £200 for the Police & Crime precept for the first time.

 

Council Tax breakdown

Council tax is made up of four elements. The majority is made up of the general element, set by the local authority. The remaining elements are the ring-fenced adult social care element, which is also set by the local authority, the policing precept and the mayoral general precept. The latter two are both set by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

The mayoral general precept partly funds the fire service and other Greater Manchester-level purposes like rough sleeping support and free bus passes for young people, whilst the policing precept is the amount you contribute to local policing.

 

Andy Burnham has defended the increase, which his office says is ‘one of the lowest in the country’.

“We set out a number of commitments last year on what Greater Manchester Police would deliver with the precept, and they delivered on every one of them,” he said. “GMP are now answering 999 calls in record time, attending incidents sooner and investing in neighbourhood policing and crime prevention teams.

“As a result, we’ve seen crime reduce across the board, with the most marked improvement in neighbourhood crime which has reduced by 17 percent in the past year.

“I know that times are tough for our residents but investment through the precept is vital to maintain this improvement.”

Deputy mayor Kate Green added: “I’m proud of the improvements Greater Manchester Police has made, but we recognise that more needs to be done to achieve what people told us they want to see in the new Greater Manchester Police and Crime Plan.”

GMP was forced into special measures in late 2020 after a damning inspectors’ report, prompting the mayor to ‘order’ chief constable Ian Hopkins to take early retirement. Stephen Watson was installed as his replacement the following year.

Since Mr Watson took the helm, GMP was taken out of special measures in 2022, and dramatically improved 999 call response times. However, his tenure has not been without controversy.

Last year, the force received another damning report. The Baird Review found cops had conducted ‘unlawful’ strip searches against men and women under both Mr Hopkins’ and Mr Watson’s tenures.

He apologised following its publication: “To those given a voice by this inquiry who have not received the care and consideration they are entitled to: I am sorry. The issues raised in Dame Vera’s report speaks to a period when our custody system was under pressure not performing to an acceptable standard.”

Ethan Davies, Local Democracy Reporter