Statement from Rupert Matthews

The Police and Crime Panel has voted to veto Mr Matthews’ Precept recommendation.

PCC Rupert Matthews said:

“The amount of coverage given to the views of those against my proposal ahead of the Panel meeting has undermined due process, so I’m hardly surprised at the Panel’s voting predisposition.

“It is ironic that my proposal not to impose the highest possible tax on local residents has been vetoed by those elected to represent them.

“To make it quite clear: the budget has not been ‘cut’. I allocated a 5% increase to Leicestershire Police, which equates to £13.5m more funding than last year. The deficit mentioned is down to £1.2m in the coming year from a budget of nearly £300m. I have every confidence that the Chief Constable and his team can achieve that without undue challenge.

“I will not just take the highest amount simply because I can; there is already enough pressure on households up and down the country. We need to reset the approach to taxation, and take what we must have, not what large public corporations would like to have.

“We will now revisit our spreadsheets and return with our revised figures on 12 February.”

Ends

Link to Rupert Matthews’ introductory statement available here.