Council tax rise to fund new police officers

West Yorkshire Police has announced it is increasing its precept by 1.99 per cent, around four pence a week for each household.

And Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, who proposed the precept rise, said it would pay for an extra 80 new police officers.

The budget proposal was agreed by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel and will help the force recruit officers after it was hit with £163m in budget cuts by the government.

Mr Burns-Williamson said: “I continue to raise wherever possible with the Home Secretary and others, the damage these severe cuts will cause to our communities.

“Although I have managed to protect frontline policing for the past two years, the cuts continue to go too far, too fast and are beginning to impact on neighbourhood policing visibility and many other strands of policing.”

The crime commissioner also said government funding will have been cut by 40 per cent between now and 2016-17.

The precept rise was agreed today by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel.