Council tax could rise to pay for Rachel Reeves’s NI raid, policing chiefs warn
Council taxes could increase to pay for Rachel Reeves's National Insurance tax rise , policing chiefs have warned.
Police forces say they are facing "black holes" of up to £4.2 million in their budgets because of the jump in NI employer contributions, equivalent to losing dozens of front-line police officers in the battle against crime.
In her Budget last month, the Chancellor told public sector employers that she would set aside a £5.5 billion pot to cover them for the NI increase.
However, policing chiefs are concerned the money will be distributed to the 43 forces in England and Wales using an "outdated" Home Office funding formula that will leave at least half of them facing a shortfall.
They say they will have to pass on the costs to "working people" through their council taxes or axe bobbies on the beat.
Some of the biggest losers cover Conservative constituencies, such as Surrey and Thames Valley in the south of England, and rural areas like Lincolnshire and West Mercia.
The complaints from policing chiefs follow similar anger from GPs, who have warned they may have to cut staff to fund the NI tax rise, and farmers, who are furious at the inheritance tax raid threatening the future viability of their businesses.
'Another tax rise imposed by the Treasury'
Marc Jones, a police and crime commissioner (PCC) in Lincolnshire, has already launched legal action against the Home Office over the funding formula. He said it is so outdated that the distribution of Government cash is still based on a metric considering the number of pubs in a force area, rather than the length of road that officers have to police.
Matthew Barber, Thames Valley's Conservative PCC, has written to Diana Johnson, policing minister, demanding a rethink. He warned the NI increase, combined with the 4.75 per cent pay rise awarded to officers, would cost his force an extra £3.2 million next year.
In his letter, he said this was equivalent to losing at least 66 officers, leaving him with no option but to ask local council taxpayers to stump up the money to cover the shortfall.
He said: "If I go out to the public in Thames Valley and ask them for more money through their council tax, I want to be able to demonstrate greater capacity and capability for front-line policing to help to further cut crime, rather than having to increase tax locally to pay for another tax rise imposed by the Treasury."
John Campion, West Mercia's Conservative PCC, estimated the NI increase could cost his force £4.2 million, leaving them at risk of having to cut front-line officers and raise local taxes. His force covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
He said: "There is no doubt that this uncertainty will mean higher council tax rises, paid by hard-working people across West Mercia and more police officers taken from the front line keeping us safe."
Mr Jones, Lincolnshire's PCC , urged the Home Office not to use the current "outdated and unfair" funding formula to distribute the cash needed to cover NI costs and instead use one that was "more precise and accurate".
He has calculated that his force loses £19 million a year through the 18-year-old funding formula, which means some metropolitan forces get 60 per cent more Government funding per head than rural constabularies like Lincolnshire.
It is not only Tory areas that will be hit, however. Joy Allen, Labour's PCC for Durham and joint lead on finance for the association of PCCs, said the NI tax rise could leave the constabulary with a £2.5 million shortfall.
She said: "The current funding formula is widely regarded as being no longer fit for purpose."
"It is important that forces are compensated for large increases in pay-related costs, which are beyond their control, based on actual costs incurred as opposed to a formulaic allocation which bears little relation to reality."
A leaked National Police Chiefs' Council report, seen by The Telegraph, shows that the proportion of force budgets funded by council taxpayers has risen from 25 per cent to 35 per cent since 2010.
It warned that forces may have to take police officers off the beat to cover backroom staff jobs, which have been slashed to balance their books. It said that taking officers away from fighting crime was "poor value for money".
