Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6358, on police finance, whether the £5 rise has decreased the average difference in precept bills between the lower and higher quartile since it was introduced.
Since Spending Review 2015, we have provided additional flexibility for the 10 Police & Crime Commissioners in England with the lowest precept bills each year (the lower quartile). These PCCS are able to raise their precept by £5 per Band D household, compared to the usual 2%, without triggering a local referendum. This additional flexibility has enabled those PCCs with the lowest precept bills to achieve similar increases, on average, in band D level to those in the highest quartile.