Police budget could put 11p a week on Council Tax

Two options are due to be put to the meeting '“ involving an increase in the police precept of 4.48% and 4.92%.

Members were being recommended by authority chairman Lionel Barnard and vice chairman Laurie Bush to adopt the lower figure.

A 4.48% increase would result in an annual figure of 128.16 for a Band D property, a rise of 11p per week, accounting for around 10% of the annual council tax bill. This will provide a 244.7m budget, a rise of 3.2% on last year.

The budget being considered includes an extra 2.5m to complete the implementation of the neighbourhood policing project across Sussex with an additional 12 sergeants and 31 constables.

New initiatives in protective services include a paedophile online investigation team, a dedicated major crime review team, strengthening of the road policing unit and improving the way the force handles and shares information about potential criminals, building on the recommendations of the Bichard enquiry following the Soham murders in Cambridgeshire.

Capital spending plans include new police stations in Lewes and Brighton East, improvement and upgrading of CCTV rooms and a new custody facility at Crawley.

This builds on achievements in the past year, which have included a new police station at Petworth and a joint partnership arrangement at Seaford which has seen the police, town council, Citizens' Advice Bureau and tourist information centre all come together under one roof.

While the news may be seen as fairly positive, authority members are still unhappy that the amount of additional grant funding from the Government is the lowest in the country, the annual increase being set at just 2.5% a year until 2010.

To balance the budget, over 10m of annual savings have had to be made and a further 4m savings are to come.