Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold has launched a survey asking the public for their views on police and fire funding and the precepts for the coming year. The police and fire precepts are the amount that Northamptonshire residents pay towards policing and the fire service through their council tax – together, both precepts amount to around 18% of the council tax a household pays. Over the last four years, the support given by local people through the precept has enabled both Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service to invest in how they keep people safe, with more police officers, more firefighters and more resources put into key areas of work. Now the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is asking people how much they are prepared to pay to keep resources for the fire service and policing at the current level. Stephen Mold is recommending an increase in the policing precept of £15 a year for a Band D household, and of £5 a year in the fire precept for 2024/25, which is the amount of funding both services need to sustain both budgets at their current level and meet cost pressures. He said: “I know how hard the cost-of-living crisis has been for people, and I don’t propose an increase in the police and fire precepts lightly, so I genuinely want to know how much people are prepared to pay towards their local emergency services.” The online survey takes around 15 minutes to complete and explains the impact that different council tax precept options would have on the policing and fire budgets. If you want your views to be counted, please make sure you take the survey rather than replying to this email. You can complete the survey by clicking on the following link:
www.research.net/r/PreceptConfidence2024-25 The survey closes on 14 January 2024 and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner will then take his recommendations to a meeting of Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel in February.
Budget consultation leaflet attached. | 
