County’s police precept to be frozen

Council tax payers in North Yorkshire will not pay a penny more for policing next year after the county’s police authority took a Government grant to freeze bills.

North Yorkshire Police Authority members voted against raising the police precept for 2012-13 – the amount residents pay towards policing as part of their council tax.

In doing so, they approved plans to cut the budget by almost £2m next year. The authority will accept a one-off grant of £1.84m to keep bills at current levels.

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The region’s three other police authorities – West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside – are yet to decide whether they will also accept the grant.

Critics say taking the money now could result in deeper cuts or higher bills in future years.

North Yorkshire Police Authority chairman Jane Kenyon said the decision to accept the grant “could mean a small shortfall in the baseline budget in a couple of years” but this could be handled by the county’s incoming elected police commissioner, due to take office in November.