By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
A Cheshire councillor has asked why there are only 51 PCSOs across the county when council taxpayers agreed to pay a higher police precept to fund 57.
Last year Cheshire had 87 Police Community Support Officers but the chief constable then announced plans to axe 60 of those roles as part of a cost-cutting measure.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Plans for a 6.7% hike in the police precept were signed off today – but 30 of the 60 PCSOs in Cheshire facing redundancy will still lose their jobs.
The annual rise for the police element of the council tax (precept) for a band D property is usually capped at £15.
Nantwich Town councillors have voted to reduce the proposed 5% rise in its council tax precept.
But they warned that a 3.5% rise is necessary amid fears Cheshire East would ask the town council to take on more services as part of further devolution plans.
Town councillors in Nantwich have approved a draft plan to increase their portion of Council Tax by 5% in 2026-27.
The proposal, which would see just over £8 a year added to a Band D property within Nantwich Town Council boundary, will now go out to public consultation.
Residents across South Cheshire are set to pay on average £14 more for policing after a planned increase in the force’s council tax precept was approved.
Dan Price, Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC), proposed the precept which was given the go ahead by the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel.
Nantwich Town councillors were locked in a bitter row last night which ended with a vote to increase their Council Tax precept for 2025-26 by 7%.
One councillor accused his own authority of “being asleep at the wheel” and said an increase above inflation was unacceptable for the town’s residents.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire residents will have to pay 4.99% more in the police precept from April, adding an extra £12.50 to the annual bill for a band D property.
The £12.50 increase to the policing element of the Council Tax bill amounts to an extra £1.04 a month for a band D household.
Nantwich Town councillors have voted through a council tax precept rise of 3.5% for 2024-25 – half of the original planned 7% rise first debated in November.
But again the issue prompted at times a heated debate among councillors, with some Labour councillors calling for a zero rise and to find savings elsewhere.
A plan to increase the Nantwich Town Council portion of Council Tax by 7% in 2024-25 sparked a heated debate among town councillors.
The town council’s draft budget was put to the council last night at Brookfield Hall.
By Mark Smith, local democracy reporter
Residents in South Cheshire are being asked whether they would be prepared to pay 6.4% more tax towards the cost of policing.
The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer says inflation has added more than £14 million to Cheshire Police’s costs, with £6.7 million worth of savings already in the pipeline.
Cheshire Fire Authority has launched a consultation on its precept which it wants to raise by £5 per year for a typical band D household.
The authority says the amount would raise an additional £1.3 million in funding but comes as local councils and police forces are also raising precepts in a cost of living crisis.
By Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter
Cheshire East residents look set to see an increase of 4.43% in the amount they pay towards policing.
If the increase suggested by Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer is ratified by the police and crime panel on Friday (February 4) that will mean an extra £10 a year on the police precept for a band D council tax payer across the county.
By Mark Smith, local democracy reporter
Council tax payers across Cheshire could be asked to stump up more cash to help fund policing.
Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer has launched a survey seeking views of residents on raising the police precept – the component of Council Tax which helps fund Cheshire Constabulary – by 83p a month.
Recent Comments