Sussex Police has to plug £6million funding gap Katy Bourne told by chief constable

The news was shared by Chief Constable Jo Shiner during a meeting with Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne on Friday (January 20).

Mrs Bourne said Sussex Police could receive just over £207m of funding for the coming year – £14.9m more than last year – with £11.2m being raised if council tax is increased by £15.

When asked if the maximum council tax increase would meet the force’s expenditure for the coming year, Ms Shiner said it would go a very long way but would still leave a gap.

Looking even further forward, the funding gap over the next few years was described as ‘quite significant’.

Following work to find savings – as well as the ongoing ‘transformation programme’ with Surrey Police looking at ways the two forces could work together more – there would still be another £900,000 to find, which would be taken from reserves.

Ms Shiner said the budgeted costs for 2023/24 would be £369.6m – an increase of £19.7m compared to 2022/23.

One area of policing which appears to be safe from the ‘savings’ axe is the PCSOs.

Mrs Bourne called the changes made in 2016, which saw dozens of officers leave, a ‘bad move’ and a ‘headache’.

Ms Shiner said: “PCSOs are a really important part of our community strategy and we know that communities really love them and we know that they’re very effective in terms of problem solving and follow-up visits to vulnerable people.”

She added: “As far as we possibly can – and of course none of us know what’s round the corner – we would want to keep the value of PCSOs within Sussex Police.”

As for the idea of increasing council tax by more than £15 to fully cover the budget gap, Mrs Bourne said that would not be allowed without a referendum.

That in itself would prove so expensive that it would be counter-productive.

Sussex Police is only one of the precepting authorities, alongside county, district as well as town and parish councils on top of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.