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As Police and Crime Commissioner, it is my responsibility to ensure that Kent Police has sufficient resources to prevent and investigate crime, to support victims and to protect our communities, be they urban, rural or coastal.
Thanks to your support, we now have more officers in Kent than ever before; our call handling service is amongst the best in the country and we have cut crime by 13% since 2019.
However, costs are rising, and on top of that, we have to pay increased national insurance contributions. So I have to make difficult decisions in order to fund the services you consistently tell me you want.
Central Government has agreed to fund Kent Police £273.7 million, and have given me the flexibility to raise the police precept of the council tax by £14 a year (or £1.16 per month) for a Band D property next year. This increase will help raise a total of £182.9m. But even with this increase Kent Police will have a £10.6 million shortfall.
If we do this, we hope to maintain the level of service you expect and deserve. The Force will of course have to make significant savings. I have written to the Government to request fairer funding in the future and will make proposals for new funding for Kent Police.
Please share your views on the police budget, please by clicking on this link:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PoliceBudget/
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