Council tax hike on cards despite £40 million budget rise for West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police will see its budget rise by nearly £40 million next year, the Home Office has announced.
The six per cent increase is the biggest of any force in the country outside the Met, and sees the total budget for West Midlands Police soar to £694.9m.
Meanwhile, the budget for Staffordshire Police will rise by £11.8m to £232.9m, an increase of 5.3 per cent.
Despite the funding increases, police and crime commissioners in the region have warned that council tax precepts are likely to rise next year to protect services.
It comes as West Midlands Police battles soaring crime levels while most other forces have seen crime drop, and is struggling to cope with a huge surge in emergency calls.
Police and Crime Minister Kit Malthouse said: “Police officers in the West Midlands are doing great work pursuing drug gangs, protecting vulnerable people from harm and tackling neighbourhood crimes such as theft.
"This cash injection means that they can clamp down on the crimes that really matter to people with even more determination.
"Police forces in the West Midlands have already benefitted from extra officers being out on the streets after more than 11,000 have been hired to forces across England and Wales over the last two years, helping to drive crime down.
"This increase in funding will see even more officers hired to tackle crime, continue to remove weapons from our streets and support communities to feel safer."
According to the Home Office, by the end of September West Midlands Police had taken on 867 new officers as part of the Government's uplift programme, which will see 1,218 officers recruited by 2023.
However, Simon Foster, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, said his force would be left 1,000 officers short of 2010 levels, with a projected funding shortfall of £7m in 2022-23.
He said: "The Government is yet again providing us with a stark choice – raise local council tax or face yet further cuts to policing.
"The effect of central government decision making in recent years has been that the people of the West Midlands have had to pay more local council tax for less local policing."
Staffordshire Police has already launched a consultation over its council tax precept, with commissioner Ben Adams saying a £10-a-year rise was needed due to challenges around Covid, inflation and pay increases.
Nationally, police funding will rise by up to £1.1 billion next year to £16.9bn, providing council tax precepts are raised.
