Paying for Policing in Essex
The results of the Policing in Essex Precept Survey carried out by Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex
We are willing to invest more in policing again this year– that’s the message from Essex council taxpayers who took part in a recent survey carried out by Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.
A total of 2,172 people responded to the survey. Of those, 2,035 people answered the question “Would you be prepared to invest more in policing to help improve the service provided?”
1,343 of the 2,035 said yes to an increase. This is 66 per cent of people who completed this question.
1,551 answered the question about how much they want it raised by and 84 per cent of this number said above £5. In total 60 per cent of people who completed the survey were prepared to pay above £5.
Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “I think it’s great 60 per cent of people who completed our survey are prepared to support an increase in the precept above inflation.
“We have been working hard over the last few years to increase the number of officers we have and improve their visibility in our communities. We know that this is important for the people of Essex so we made it a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan and worked with central government to achieve this.
“We are well on the way to recruiting an extra 500 officers with 368 due to be recruited, trained and on our streets by the end of March this year.
“The results from this year’s survey demonstrates the increases over the past two years have been well spent and we are clearly making a difference in terms of policing deployment across the county.
“People can be assured that given the support the Government is giving us in the current year that we will continue to make further progress.”
He added: “Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey.”
The survey results will be used to prepare a full report of the policing precept which will go before the Police, Fire and Crime Panel Members for approval on Thursday, February 6.
