North East residents are facing a council tax rise of up to £15 to fund 134 new frontline police officers to fight crime.
Councillors from across Northumbria Police's catchment approved Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Kim McGuinness' proposal to increase the Police precept by £15 a year for band D homes and £10 a year for Band A properties - generating more than £6m.
The hike will allow Northumbria Police to deploy 134 new officers into frontline roles and maintain a "visible" police presence.
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The rise comes as Northumbria Police needs to find £11.7m in savings. The PCC stated without the rise in the police precept from council tax, savings would rise to £15.8m.
PCC Kim McGuiness said: "This is to cushion some of the impacts of an absolutely massive hole in the budget that is left by a combination of inflation, pay pressures, and various other things.
The precept will raise £6m towards this, but most importantly, to 134 new officers deployed on frontline neighbourhood policing to tackle anti-social behaviour in our communities.
"I personally don't agree with the way we have to do this. Pushing the cost to the public is the wrong way to fund policing. We have made every effort to bring the Home Secretary around to our way of thinking, which is the government's need to fully fund policing in our region, but this is unfortunately the Government choosing to pass the costs on to the public.
"Consultation has shown the majority of people are in favour of the rise in exchange for those 134 neighbourhood roles."
Since 2010, austerity cuts reduced the number of police officers in the region drop by 1,100. In March 2022, Northumbria Police received Government funding to recruit 615 new officers, but PCC Kim McGuinness reiterated she would continue to campaign to see the number of officers back to pre-austerity levels.
The police precept makes up 18% of core resource funding for the Force, with the remaining 82% coming through central government grants.
The current Northumbria Police council tax precept, for band D homes, is £153.84 and is the lowest in England and Wales. North Wales currently has the highest band D precept at £316 per annum.
The deputy leader of Sunderland City Council, Coun Claire Roundtree said: "Obviously this is not the decision any of us want to make but the report is clear on why it is necessary and I appreciate the robust consultation that went into this.
"People want to see frontline staff, they want their neighbourhoods to feel safe and the use of this precept will be delivery on the doorstep what people are asking for.
"The Government has significantly failed us time and time again to properly fund our public services and the weight is baring back on our residents when they are already under massive pressure."
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