PCC hosts live Q&A to seek views on police budget consultation

*The police budget consultation has now closed. Thank you to those who took part. The results will be published on our website in due course*

With just over two weeks to go before the end of his police budget consultation, Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Lorne Green is set to host a live question and answer session to seek views of the Norfolk public.

The virtual Q&A will take place with the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary, Simon Bailey, on Tuesday 12 January between 6pm and 8pm.

The PCC launched his 2021/22 budget consultation on Monday 21 December, doing so, setting out some of the key challenges facing the Constabulary in the coming year.

The consultation is set to run until Friday 22 January and Lorne is keen to hear from as many people as possible to seek their understanding for his proposal “in the interest of keeping our county one of the safest in the country”.

“I am really grateful to those who have taken the time to take part in my consultation to date,” said PCC Lorne Green.

“We are living in unprecedented times and I appreciate how difficult it is for the Norfolk community to consider further changes to their household budget.

“It is imperative however that I hear from as many people as possible with their views about the future funding of policing in our county.

“I would therefore like to encourage Norfolk residents to continue to have their say by joining the event with myself and the Chief Constable next week.”

The PCC is required by law to set the budget for the Constabulary and, as part of this, determine how much the people of Norfolk contribute to the policing element of the Council Tax they pay to keep the county safe.

During his consultation Lorne has stressed the importance of protecting the gains made in keeping our county safe since 2016 and ensuring the police have the resources necessary to provide strong community policing, fight fraud, and tackle the scourge of domestic abuse.

In the consultation Lorne is seeking the community’s understanding for a policing precept rise of 5.68%, as allowed by the Chancellor in his spending review statement to Parliament recently. This represents the equivalent of 29p a week for a Band D property or 22p a week for a Band B property - the majority of properties in the county are in Bands A to D.

In seeking people’s views, Lorne has highlighted some of the biggest challenges currently facing policing, including the need for the Force to make £4 million of savings in the coming year.

Launching the consultation, the PCC said: “As your PCC, I want to be able to reassure every man, woman and child in Norfolk that you will continue to receive an excellent police service.

“We can be proud that our police force has been assessed by national inspectors as outstanding for efficiency and that we remain one of the safest counties in the country – but the hard fact is that none of this comes cheap.

“We must not lose the gains that have been made to policing in our county over the past four years.”

In preparing for the consultation, Lorne asked the Chief Constable to come up with a costed plan that would maintain the level of policing services across the county and, importantly, enhance services in areas of particular demand – a tall order in an era of increased demand and growing complexity of crime investigation.

The Chief Constable’s views can also be found on the OPCCN website.

In previous years, the PCC has held consultation events across the county to hear the views of Norfolk residents. Restrictions on gatherings imposed by the coronavirus pandemic mean the consultation is, out of necessity, taking place online this year, with all the information and a short survey available on the Norfolk PCC website.

Printed copies of the survey and consultation documents are also available for those who need them.

The online Q&A session with Lorne Green and Simon Bailey will be hosted via Microsoft Teams.

Anyone interested in joining the event is asked to email the OPCCN’s Engagement Officer Fay Crangle: Fay.Crangle@Norfolk.Police.uk for further information.