Funding to support continued improvement of police in Wigan approved by Police, Fire and Crime Panel

This includes to fund continued improvements in policing with an increase to police precept by 84p per month for Band B property or £1.08 per month for Band D property. Over 80 per cent of households in Greater Manchester are in Bands A to C.

The Police, Fire and Crime Panel is made up of elected representatives from across all 10 of Greater Manchester’s councils, as well as independent members, and is chaired by Cllr Janet Emsley. The Panel’s role is to scrutinise the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, who have Police and Crime Commissioner responsibilities which includes setting the police precept – the part of council tax which funds police.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “The Government’s decision to cut police funding in real terms for 2024/25 has forced us into a difficult decision at the local level.

“We are proud of the progress that GMP has made in recent years and are simply not prepared to put this at risk by leaving the force with large a gap in its budget for the coming year.

“We are grateful to the cross-party Police, Crime and Fire Panel for unanimously supporting our decision and will make sure that, in the coming 12 months, GMP continues to deliver real results for our residents.”

Along with the central government policing grant, the increase will fund an additional 30 officers into frontline roles, improvements to response times, investment in neighbourhood policing, efforts to lock up more criminals and provide swifter services for victims and an increased capacity to prosecute offenders.

The police precept for a Band D property will increase by £13, from £243.30 to £256.30 next year. For a Band B property it will go up by £10.11, from £189.23 to £199.34. Despite the increase, the regions precept will remain one of the lowest in the country.

For 999 and 101 calls, GMP’s average answering speed is now much faster, and in November GMP was ranked first out of 43 police forces nationally, answering 999 calls in an average of just two seconds. Last year GMP responded to 86 per cent of emergency incidents within the national target of 15 minutes, up from 79 per cent the previous year.

Between June 2022 and June 2023, knife crime in Greater Manchester decreased by 12.5 percent across all ages, and 13.5 percent for victims under age 25.

Chair of the Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel, Coun Janet Emsley, said: “Today the Police, Fire and Crime Panel agreed to the Mayor’s proposal to increase the police precept. Our priority is keeping people and communities safe, and this starts with ensuring GMP has the resources it needs to do its job properly.”

Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Fire and Criminal Justice, Kate Green, said: “I would like to thank the Panel for their careful scrutiny and consideration of our proposal. Both the Mayor and I understand that this is a difficult time for many people, and the decision to impose a further cost is not one we’ve taken lightly. People should be reassured that the decision to increase the police precept will help GMP deliver a better service, by bringing in more frontline police officers, increasing investment in its neighbourhood policing teams, and delivering better services for victims.”

If you're affected by the cost-of-living crisis, support and advice is available at https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/helping-hand/