Next year’s budget for Gwent Police was agreed at a meeting today by Gwent Police Authority.
The budget for April 2010 to March 2011 is £121.6 million reflecting a 3.2% increase in spending compared with the fiscal year 2009/2010.
This means that there will be a 3.85% increase for council tax payers equating to a £6.72 increase for a Band D property for the year.
The budget will enable the force to continue to protect and reassure the people of Gwent by investing in frontline policing and increasing resources in important areas like roads policing, armed response and crime investigation.
Although the budget is not sufficient to keep pace with increasing costs like pay awards and fuel costs, by reducing our support costs and saving money through tight control of our spending, we will be able to increase the number of police officers on front line duties and invest in technology which will help reduce costs in the longer term.
Chair of the Gwent Police Authority, Cilla Davies said:
“The decisions made today were very carefully considered, balancing the need for a high quality police service with an understanding of the current economic circumstances of local residents and the prospect that we must be financially prepared and able to implement the government’s initiatives.
The force has worked extremely hard over the last two years to identify areas where efficiency savings can be made to avoid the possibility of significant funding shortfalls now or in the future and we are very pleased with the results so far.
Gwent Police and Police Authority have, over the last two years, undertaken the biggest change programme the Force has seen for the last forty years. We believe we are now in a good position to deal with the difficult financial times ahead.
With our Chief Constable, we are happy to support the further recruitment of 150 officers this year and are committed to continuing to provide a sustainable police force which offers a high level of service to the residents of Gwent.”
Chief Constable Mick Giannasi said:
“The approval of the budget today will allow us to recruit 150 police officers which will bring us back up to our full establishment by the end of the year. We have been able to achieve this by redesigning the service we provide, reducing our support costs, cutting non-essential expenditure and sharing services with other agencies.
We are now collaborating with other Welsh Police Forces and Local Authorities in a number of areas including Legal Services, Estates, Information Systems, Scientific Support Services and Human Resources. As a result of these developments, we have identified savings of more than £7.5 million, some of which offsets the reduction in central funding and some of which will be reinvested into better policing services.
We are committed to providing people in Gwent with an effective, efficient and modern police service which is sustainable and represents value for money, this budget will enable us to make progress towards that aim.”
