PFCC and Essex Police forced to reduce staff numbers, cut all PCSOs and request the maximum precept increase following inadequate government funding settlement
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Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, has proposed a budget to the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel that will raise the Essex Police Precept by £13.95 a year, or 27p a week, a 5.66% increase for a Band D property, taking the yearly total to £260.37p or £5 a week.
The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel meets on Tuesday 4th February to consider Mr Hirst’s proposed precept. This proposed precept will allow Essex Police to maintain its current number of experienced and highly trained officers, which, following an investment programme since 2016, is the largest the service has ever been in its history.
However, Essex Police is facing a budget shortfall, due to an inadequate government Police Funding Settlement for 2025/26 which left a budget hole of £12.5 million. This means even after raising the precept by the maximum allowed and identifying £8m efficiency savings, there is still a £5.3m shortfall.
While funding pressures are being felt by police services across the country Essex Police is the third lowest funded service in the country, per capita, so faces a particularly precarious financial situation. In a recent report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire Rescue Service (HMICFRS) Essex Police was highlighted as offering excellent value to the public and spends more of its funding on putting officers on the street then almost all other forces. The tough financial situation in Essex is exacerbated by an unfair funding formula that consistently disadvantages the county.
This shortfall in the Government Police Funding Settlement means the service, pending consultation, will have to take urgent action including:
- Losing all (99) Police Community Support Officers roles (PCSOs),
- Reducing staff numbers by around sixty-five,
- Stopping all non-critical building and technology projects,
- Slashing the Southeast Allowance and removing the Detective Allowance so every officer will face a reduction in pay.
This drastic reduction in spending will have a significant impact on the force’s operational capability. Including removing the use of PCSOs as a tactical option.
It is necessary to ensure that the force maintains its officer head count and does not get financially penalised for dropping below the government’s strictly enforced officer headcount. The PFCC and Chief Constable have both been in close contact with the Home Office in recent months to highlight the challenges this would bring to the county, have provided detailed financial information and offered a range of ways to mitigate this action. Unfortunately, they have been unable to secure a fairer deal.
Roger Hirst said: “We are committed to maintaining the great progress we have made since 2016 in building Essex Police to be the biggest and strongest it has ever been in terms of officer numbers. This has resulted in significant reductions in burglary, anti-social behaviour and crime. Since April 2016, incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) have decreased by 72% and incidents of Burglary have decreased by 51%. In the 12 months to the end of December 2024, all crime in Essex decreased by 6.7%. We are successfully fighting back against crime in our communities.
“However, we cannot ignore the fact the Government settlement is not enough to meet pay and inflationary pressures. We have to balance the need to respond to local policing and crime priorities with the wider financial pressures on the service and on households. We have to be responsible and balance the books. We know Essex residents value their service - in the recent PFCC Precept Survey, held before Christmas, 85% of people who responded said they would like to see more investment in policing in their community, a figure reflected in this proposed precept rise.
“Yet we can’t place all the financial burden on Essex residents and, despite the very best efforts of the Chief Constable and myself, economies will have to be made. We remain committed to delivering the best possible services to the public and to working with government to reform and improve policing in Essex.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
Proposed Essex Police precept increase:
The Essex Police Precept is proposed to increase by £13.95 a year, or 27p a week.
This is a 5.66% increase for a Band D property, from £246.42 a year in 24/25 to a yearly total in 25/26 of £260.37p or £5 a week.
25/26 Precept Survey
The PFCC hosted a public Precept Survey between Friday 25th October 2024 to Monday 9th December 2024. The results from the survey were:
- 1,579 people who live, work or study in Essex responded to the survey.
- 85%, who gave a view, wanted to see more investment in policing in their community.
- 54% of people who gave a view said they were prepared to contribute £15 per year or more to invest in policing.
The causes of the shortfall in funding for Essex Police include:
- The settlement not covering the full pay award made last July.
- An increase of £8m in 2025/26 pay costs because of the contractual pay increments of officers hired over recent years, as part of the expansion through the Police Uplift Programme and local resources.
- The Police Grant Funding Formula, used by the government to distribute national funding, not providing Essex with its proportionate share of national funding. Essex receives 2.25% of any national funding but accounts for 2.5% of policing nationally. This means that every increase in central government funding, results in a 10% shortfall for Essex (0.25 percentage points of 2.5%). This has been the case for many years and has had to be compensated for by internal efficiency and productivity gains.
Savings
Since 2016/17 Essex Police has delivered £62.3m annual recurrent cashable savings, as well as £18m of efficiency savings since 2019. Further efficiency and productivity gains of £8m of which £1 million are recurring are planned for 2025/26. Even after those savings, there is a substantial budget shortfall for 2025/26. Factoring in the 2.8% pay settlement, which government statements have proposed for 2025/26, there will be a recurring deficit of £5.3m.
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