‘We have plans to keep you safe and secure’ – PFCC 2026/27 budget proposals for Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Detailed plans to keep Essex safe and secure can be put into action by budget proposals made this week by Roger Hirst MBE, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.
The Commissioner has this week proposed the budget for Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) to the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel.
The Panel will reflect on these budget proposals at a meeting to be held at County Hall, Chelmsford, on Tuesday 3rd February.
Speaking about his budget proposals, Mr Hirst said: “Ensuring people in Essex are safe is our main priority.
“For the second year running, the Government funding settlement for Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is insufficient to cover rising costs for both emergency services.
“To action our detailed and costed plans to keep communities in Essex safe and secure, funding from the Government is not enough and we have no choice but to turn to the outstanding support we receive from Essex taxpayers.
“In our recent PFCC precept survey, held in December 2025, 81% of respondents said they were willing to increase funding to Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, with 85% of respondents saying they were willing to increase funding to Essex Police.
“You have told us you wish to support Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. We are humbled and extremely grateful for this strong support by the public of Essex for both emergency services.”
“This budget will allow us to keep Essex people safe and reduce crime further down to historic lows.”
Speaking specifically about the Essex Police budget, Mr Hirst said: "The Government has not fully funded last year’s pay settlement, nor have recent Government Neighbourhood Policing announcements been fully funded. To balance the budget we must raise the precept by the maximum allowed under council tax flexibility rules.
“Essex Police is the biggest and strongest it has ever been and this budget will allow more officers to be on patrol in your communities, driving down anti-social behaviour and reducing crime.
“However, due other inflationary pressures, we will have to make staff redundancies.”
A tight budget allows investment in Essex Police, including significant investment in our estate and artificial intelligence in control rooms allowing faster response times.
To keep officer numbers high and put these plans into place the PFCC is proposing to raise the Essex Police Precept by £14.94 a year, or 29p a week, a 5.74% increase for a Band D property, taking the yearly total to £275.31p or £5.28p a week.
Referring to the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service budget, Mr Hirst said: “The Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) sets out exactly what ECFRS has to do to keep Essex safe.”
The proposed 2026/27 budget for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service reflects the priorities set out in the Community Risk Management Plan (2025–2030). It includes investment in 10 additional wholetime firefighter roles, two additional Breathing Apparatus instructor roles, Professional Standards Officer roles and a Community Wellbeing Officer role.
Looking ahead, following approval of the Full Business Case and planning approval by Braintree District Council, ECFRS is taking forward plans for a new live fire training centre at its Service Headquarters (Kelvedon Park), providing a permanent home for realistic, high-quality firefighter training in Essex.
Mr Hirst said: “If we make these changes and take the maximum precept flexibility allowed by the Government, with the help of Essex taxpayers we can balance the ECFRS budget and continue to keep the county safe.”
The PFCC is proposing to raise the Essex County Fire and Rescue Precept by £4.95p a year, or 9.5p a week, a 5.65% increase for a Band D property, taking the yearly total to £92.52p, or £1.77p a week.
Together these precept increases amount to £19.89p each year, or 38p a week for a band D property.
Mr Hirst added: “We have worked hard to get the best value out of every single penny we have. I wish to give my personal thanks to Essex taxpayers who are supporting us in our main aim to build safe and secure communities.”
Efficiency savings
Since 2016 Essex Police has delivered £62.3 million in annual recurrent cashable savings and an additional £18 million in efficiency savings since 2019.
Since 2021 Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has delivered £7.4 million in cashable savings with additional £2.5 million of efficiency savings included within the 2026/27 budget.
On top of this £20 million of public money has been saved by an ongoing programme of collaboration between emergency services in Essex according to a recent review.
Since its inception in 2017, the Essex Emergency Services Collaboration Programme (ESCP) has been a cornerstone of innovation and partnership between Essex Police, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS), the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC).
PFCC Budget Survey for 2026/27
The proposed precepts were informed by a public Precept Survey hosted by the PFCC between Monday 20th October and Monday 1st December 2025.
A total of 1,710 people who live, work or travel in Essex completed the survey, with responses then collated by an independent analyst.
Fire and rescue precept support: 81% of respondents were willing to increase funding, with the largest group, 33%, supporting a £15 precept rise.
Policing precept support: 84% were willing to increase funding, with the largest group, 36%, supporting a £25 precept rise.