Lincolnshire policing tax to rise by £9.99 as bill soars 34% in five years

Lincolnshire’s policing tax will increase by £9.99 a year for Band D properties, according to the latest announcement by Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones.

At a meeting in East Lindsey District Council’s Manby headquarters next Friday, the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel will be asked to approve a 3.75% increase in council tax for 2022.

Mr Jones said his plans will increase the force’s budget by £2.4million and enable it to hire an additional 67 new police officers, including 12 Community Beat Managers to increase visible policing and help protect communities.

Previous increases have seen Band D properties pay an extra £63.92 since 2017, with the numbers including:

• 2017 – £3.08 (1.97%)
• 2018 – £11.97 (5.8%)
• 2019 – £23.94 (11%)
• 2020 – £9.99 (4.1%)
• 2021 – £14.94 (5.9%)

The latest £9.99 rise will mean residents in Band D properties will be paying £70.83 a year more than in 2017, a 34% increase.

However, Mr Jones said he was “personally sceptical” about asking residents for further increases “at a time when communities have struggled to cope with the COVID pandemic and its economic impact”.

In a 3,000-response survey prior to Christmas, 75% of people said they were prepared to pay at least 5% more in council tax – which Mr Jones said “showed overwhelming support from the public”.

How the policing tax will look in 2022.

“Nevertheless, I simply cannot ignore the very clear directive sent by the public in this year’s survey,” added Mr Jones

“They have made it clear they want to see continued investment the policing services that protect their families, homes, community and way of life and are prepared to, in part, fund this through their Council Tax contributions.

“Even though most will be asked to pay as little as 13-19p a week more I do not for a second underestimate the difficulties our communities face in their personal budgets.

“I will be tireless in my commitment to ensure their money delivers real and lasting value in the service they can expect across our county with the delivery of a modern, effective and efficient policing service – keeping them safe and driving criminal behaviour from our streets and communities.”

Lincolnshire Police has, for a number of years, been one of the lowest funded forces in the country. In September, Marc Jones met the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak where he asked for more funding for the county.

Police chiefs also “cautiously” welcomed news of more funding for policing announced by Home Secretary Priti Patel in December.

Mr Jones said he would look to cap council tax increases to 3.75% next year dropping to 3.62% and 3.49% in the following two.

Other benefits of the increase, he said, would be:

• Provide additional cutting-edge crime fighting capability by expanding the Digital Forensics Team and investing in the latest systems to identify criminals faster than ever before.
• Provide resources to work in partnership to deliver the new Lincolnshire Drug Strategy – tackling drug dealing and supply whilst supporting those targeted by the illegal trade in drugs to save life and keep our communities safe.
• Boost the Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit to further protect the most vulnerable children and adults from sexual violence and abuse and help deliver the justice they deserve.
• Invest in greater and more effective partnership working in Integrated Offender Management to reduce reoffending and reduce the numbers of victims.