Two more weeks to have your say on future funding for Essex Police and Essex Fire and Rescue Service as survey extended
Posted Friday 22nd November
People who live or work in Essex have two more weeks to give their views on future funding for Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.
Since Friday 25th October the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Essex has asked county residents for their policing and community safety views to identify public appetite in maintaining the current strength and ability of Essex Police and Essex County Fire & Rescue Service to keep communities safe.
To hear those views, all residents, businesses and people who work in any Essex district have been asked to complete the PFCC Precept survey for the financial year 2025/26. This survey has now been extended for two more weeks, with the survey, which takes about five minutes to complete. set to close at midnight on Sunday 8th December.
You can complete the survey here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/AVQK66/
Over 1,000 Essex people have already had their say on the survey, but more are sought. Your views will feed into the Essex Police and Essex County Fire & Rescue funding process for the financial year 2025/26.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said: “This is your chance to have your say. With your support we have invested in Essex Police by placing more officers in your communities and we want to make sure those officers are in a position to get crime down.
“Since 2016 we have increased the number of officers in Essex Police by 905 making the service the largest it has ever been. There are now more officers than ever before, visible on the streets of your cities, towns and villages.
“Crime is falling, all crime is down 6.0% in the 12 months to September 2024 – that’s 9,425 fewer Essex people who this year have to deal with the distressing, and at times devastating, consequences of crime.
“But we want to do more, we want fewer people to be impacted by crime.
“As our new officers learn their roles, gain experience and develop further skills, we want to drive crime further down. My ambition is to bring crime down by 40% from its high and we need your support to do this. As our new officers become more experienced and gain additional skills, we will be able to achieve more, but our costs will also increase.
“Our plans are to ensure that vulnerable people are protected from harm. That is a job for both Police and the Fire & Rescue Service. Both services are facing the impact of high levels of inflation over the last few years, both on goods and services and on pay awards.
“It is vital we maintain our investment in crime prevention and get more visible police in your communities, as well as investigating crimes and bringing offenders to justice.
“This is how we will get crime down. We also need to prevent fires and road traffic collisions and make sure high-rise buildings are protected.
“The number of house fires in Essex has decreased over the last five years from 783 a year to 677 a year, that’s 106 families who do not have to suffer the trauma of a house fire. This is the direct result of increased protection and prevention visits by our officers. We have also successfully driven down fires in commercial properties, continued the long terms reduction in the number of deliberate fires and taken on an increased role in building safety regulations.
“But we want to do more, we want to prevent more fires and save more lives as well as delivering an effective response if a fire does happen. We want to keep up this work helping our fire and rescue service to manage risk across Essex and help prevent harm in our communities.
“We will continue to make both Essex Police and Essex County Fire & Rescue Service more efficient. Over the past four years Essex Police has saved £42.3m through efficiencies and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has saved £5.2m through efficiencies.
“We want to keep crime falling, prevent more fires and save lives. To do this we must maintain and invest in the strength of Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Those are our plans, but we would like to know your thoughts.
“Please take the time to complete this short survey, which takes about five minutes to complete, and tell us what you think. Your views matter.”
Results will be analysed to help inform discussions at the Police, Fire and Crime Panel pre-budget meeting on Thursday, 12th December 2024.
