The Commissioner’s spending plan, which will open police enquiry offices faster, maintain record force strength and provide support for thousands of crime victims reach year, was presented to the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel on Friday.
The plans will see a £12.94 (4.95%) rise in the precept paid by a band D property in the force area, taking band D precepts to £274.50 a year (amounts will differ for other bands). The precept income, combined with an increase in the central government grant, will create a revenue budget of £406.5m, up from £384m in 2023-24.
The additional revenue will enable record officer numbers of 3,610 to be maintained, the programme of reopening Police Enquiry Offices (PEO) will be accelerated, with four more opened before April 2025.
A new PEO will open in Exeter city centre, at a location to be confirmed and in addition to that at the city’s Middlemoor Police Station. PEOs in Tavistock, Ivybridge and Liskeard will also be reopened. The projects were due to be delivered over two financial years but this has been compressed, with all four due to reopen before April next year.
The panel also considered the Commissioner’s Commissioning Intentions Plan, which describes proposals to spend £9.6m on commissioning to help victims and maintain Devon and Cornwall as one of the safest police force areas in the country. This includes commissioning of Safer Streets projects and victim services, as well as partnership work to improve road safety. In 2022-23, the last year for which figures are available, almost 29,543 victims of crime were referred to support services commissioned by her.
A recording of Friday’s Police and Crime Panel meeting, which was open to the public and held at Plymouth’s Council House, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gApSo1hecfk