HAMPSHIRE Police Authority is warning council tax payers that a change by the government in the way it calculates police funding will mean the police precept element of the council tax will have to rise to make up the difference.
A meeting of Hampshire Police AuthorityÕs financial affairs panel on Monday received a report on the proposals for a change in the way the government calculates police grant funding.
The proposals, currently out for consultation, suggest that shire authorities will lose grant support, with metropolitan authorities generally gaining from a redistribution of funding.
The worst-case option under the proposals would mean a loss of up to £10.4 million for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. A grant loss of this amount would need a council tax rise of at least 22 per cent above inflation to maintain the level of policing currently provided. There would be little or no chance of any increase in the provision of policing across the two counties.
The police funding formula is needs-based and the government wants to bring the formula Òin line with present policing needs and the governmentÕs agenda for the future of the service.Ó .
The government also says that resources would be directed Òtowards areas likely to be pressed by street crime and deprivationÓ.
Speaking at the meeting, chairman of the financial affairs panel, Mike Attenborough-Cox, said: ÒAlthough the police authority does not dispute the need to tackle street crime and deprivation, it does not want funding to decrease to the detriment of the communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. If the government reduces our funding, we will have no option but to increase the council tax precept to maintain current levels of policing for 2003 to 2004.Ó