Fiery debate sees Reform police commissioner’s budget rejected

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Reform UK’s Rupert Matthews has presented his policing budget plans to increase Leicestershire Police’s share of the council tax by £11 instead of £15, which is the maximum amount allowed by the government.

However, cross-party city and county councillors, including those from Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, rejected the budget as they believe it is too low during the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland police and crime panel on Wednesday 4 February.

The budget also highlighted disagreements and tensions between Matthews and the force’s temporary chief constable David Sandall over rising policing costs, which were described as “disappointing”.

Chair of the panel Les Phillimore said he had “never known the PCC and the chief constable” to be “at odds” before.

Matthews addressed the panel with an 11-minute speech, in which he was not “proposing that the police budget should be cut”.

He said: “The budget that I put before this panel is one of balance. It balances the needs of preventing crime, victim support and violence reduction against the request of the chief constable for an expansion of the police force.

“And balances all of that against the financial pressures bearing down on the people of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.

“Times are tough for our constituents. Their predicament loomed over my shoulder as I started on the long journey of this budget process.”

Matthews detailed back-and-forth with Sandall, claiming Sandall was “unwilling to compromise on his key requests”, including that the £11 precept should go up by the maximum available.

The speech was followed by intense grilling from city and county councillors, who feared that the plans would create a “massive hole” in the police budget.

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Tensions reached a breaking point as Reform council leader Dan Harrison addressed the meeting, saying he was “angry” about the speech and proposal.

He added: “I thought it was most unworthy, the way you behaved. I’m concerned about the safety of the public, and the public are behind us.

“You show a scant concern for our thoughts and lots of other councillors. Yet, you still argue, and I can not understand why you are presenting such a case with such overwhelming evidence. I find it amazing.

“All you’re doing is disadvantaging the police force of Leicestershire, who desperately need police on the street. Why you’ve taken this dogged attitude? Why? You’ll be gone soon.

“I’m concerned about all people of Leicestershire, and safety comes first”.

Sandall then addressed the panel and said that Leicestershire Police was “good at managing money” and that he “gets that people don’t want to pay more tax”.

He added: “It is a real issue, I know it is. I’ve got a young workforce with many people struggling financially, I get that.

“But there has to be a balance between what the tax implications are and what the threat, risk and harm implications are to the public”.

He noted that there would be an immediate £1.4m funding gap if the £11-a-year tax precept were imposed, compared to the £15. He said that would be equivalent to 30 police officers or 35 PCSOs.

The chief constable also spoke about the “significant cuts” resulting from the proposed budget, adding that by the fourth year, the gap would reach £16.4m – or equivalent to 350 police officers.

He added: “We are talking about significant cuts over the next four years.

“The decisions of today make a massive difference in the future. We will be the only police force in the country that doesn’t go for the maximum. We are already the 7th lowest funded and I know our neighbours, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire will be going for £15”.

A motion was put forward to veto the budget, and all councillors voted unanimously to do so. Matthews will now have to revise his budget proposals and present them to the panel once again on 12 February.

After the meeting, Matthews said: “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 per cent 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.”

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