Plans for a two per cent rise in the share of council tax allocated to the police authority agreed.
The Police and Crime Panel for Devon and Cornwall has approved plans for a two per cent rise in the share of council tax allocated to the police authority.
Councillor Paul Diviani, who is a member of the panel, last week, advised Honiton Town Council that the increase was to ensure police officers and community support officers remain in place.
He said: “At least we can secure our police and support officers, who are very much in the limelight in rural areas, and have their function protected.”
The two per cent increase equates to an increase, on average, of £3.19 per household per year.
In a statement Tony Hogg, the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, said: “We believed that not raising the police part of the council tax during the next financial year would have a major impact on policing in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
“It would have meant that officer numbers may have fallen to well below 3,000. We are working hard to maintain officer numbers at their current levels and there was a real need for the force to increase funds to be able do this.”
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