Cumbria Police Authority Budget Process
Every year Cumbria Police Authority sets its annual budget and the budget for policing services across the county. In total we spend around £100m every year, which mainly comes from government grants and council tax.
The Police Authority has the task of setting the annual budget in advance, and must make sure that the cost of providing police services sits within the income we expect to receive.
This year, we have to decide whether to take an extra grant from the Government in exchange for freezing the amount of council tax that each household in Cumbria pays.
On the face of it, this seems like a great idea, but the grant will only be paid to us for one year and the Police Authority would then need to try and recoup that money in following years by raising council tax more than usual.
This would create problems, as there is a limit to how much council tax can be raised every year, so if we accept the grant now, we may not be able to recoup that money in future years, which would mean that policing might have to be cut by up to £1million on top of the £18m we already have to save.
Police Authority members have a difficult choice to make, but they think that it is most important to make sure police services are protected. This would mean increasing Council Tax.
What does this mean for you?
If we don’t accept the government grant next year we will need to increase council tax in 2012/13 and we will need to decide how much the increase should be.
The amount of increase would depend on what band of council tax your property is in. The table below sets out how much extra Council Tax you would need to pay each week.
| | Difference per week |
| Band A | between 8p and 10p |
| Band B | between 9p and 12p |
| Band C | between 10p and 13p |
| Band D | between 12p and 15p |
| Band E | between 14p and 18p |
| Band F | between 17p and 21p |
| Band G | between 19p and 25p |
| Band H | between 23p and 29p |
If we do accept the government grant next year, the police authority element of the council tax will be frozen for a year, meaning your council tax will remain the same in 2012/13. However, council tax would then potentially need to increase by a larger amount in 2013/14.
To have your say on how you think the budget money should be spent by completing the Your Police Budget Survey - here.
You can also e-mail or write to us. Our contact details are:
Cumbria Police Authority
Police Authority Offices, Carleton Hall, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 2AU
Email – policeauthority@cumbria.police.uk