Raise tax or cut policing - bosses' stark choice

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RAISE council tax, or further cut policing - Warwickshire Police Authority bosses insist this is the 'very difficult' choice they face.

The authority meets next month to set the budget for 2012/13 and want the public's views ahead of the meeting, as they look to cut £23 million in the coming four years.

Cost-cutting measures are already under way with a number of redundancies and station closures already proving controversial.

But despite these and other measures, including an alliance with West Mercia Police, there is still a funding gap of nearly £4 million.

Police chiefs say they now face the 'very difficult choice' of deciding whether or not to up their element of the council tax or not - around ten per cent of the entire bill for each household.

The authority has been offered a government grant the equivalent of a three per cent council tax increase if it agrees to freeze local council tax levels in 2013/14 but the grant is only for one year and would increase the force's budget gap in subsequent years, requiring £1 million more in cuts - equivalent to 27 full-time roles in the force.

Police authority chief executive Oliver Winters said: "The police authority is faced with a very difficult choice.

"At one extreme, by accepting the government's offer of a grant to freeze the council tax in 2012/13, the council tax will not increase for local taxpayers next year, but the authority will have to make additional cuts in policing budgets from 2013/14, an amount equivalent to about 27 police officers.

"At the other end of the spectrum, an increase of four per cent in the council tax would cushion some of the reductions in policing, but would add additional pressure to already stretched household budgets.

"An increase of four per cent would be around £7 a year extra on the council tax, or 60p per month, on the average property."

The authority meets on February 22 to set the budget and encourages everyone to have their say.

Visit www.warwickshirepa.gov.uk/community-engagement/council-tax-consultation-2012-13 for more information.