During January 2009, the Police Authority ran a number of consultation activities relating to the budget proposals for the next year and setting the council tax precept.
Questionnaires were circulated a number of organisation across South Wales, including Community Councils, Race Equality Councils and Neighbourhood Watch Associations. The questionnaire was supported by an information leaflet, which provided details of the financial situation faced by South Wales Police Authority. It was also available on the website.
The results have been given to the Police Authority to help set the budget for 2009-10.
Results
In total, 209 responses were received from the questionnaire - 140 through the postal survey and 69 from the website. A full breakdown of the results received can be found at in the document below. The key results were:
Council tax should be increased to avoid cuts:
42.9% - agree/strongly agree
47.5% - disagree/strongly disagree
Would you support a higher council tax of 27p per week?
Yes – 54.9%
No – 36.4%
How much extra would you be prepared to pay?
Less than 27p per week – 52.1%
More than 27p per week – 47.9%
Budget Simulator
In addition to the survey, the Police Authority ran an online budget simulator programme, which allows members of the public to set the police budget. Using the simulator, people can consider what their priorities are, and increase or decrease spending to try and balance the budget. A total of 50 people have taken part in this, via the Authority’s website. In brief, the results found:
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30 people would not make any changes to the budget
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5 people would decrease council tax
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10 people would increase council by up to 5%
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5 people would increase council tax by over 5%
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Police Officers was the most popular budget to increase, followed by police staff and police vehicles
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Other supplies and services was the most popular budget to be cut, followed by reserves.
Comments
Members of the public provided us with a number of ad hoc comments, which included:
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The money should be spent on more officers on the beat
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Council tax increases should be kept to the rate of inflation only
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Close police stations with high maintenance costs, but keep a policing presence
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Cuts should be made to management
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Services should not be cut – there should be better budget management
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Police service should be funded by the Government
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The police do excellent work, but people cannot afford the increases in council tax.