Police facing £24m blackhole despite council tax increase

MAYOR BLAMES GOVERNMENT FOR SHORTFALL IN FORCE’S BUDGET

- JOSEPH TIMAN

COUNCIL tax will increase across Greater Manchester to pay for police.

But GMP still needs to find £24m for its budget by March.

The police precept will go up by £13 for Band D properties next year, which works out to £1.08 per month. However, with 80 per cent of properties in Greater Manchester classed as Band A to C, the vast majority of residents in the city region will pay less than that.

The extra charge, which comes into effect from April, has now been approved with a further increase for fire services also expected to be added to the council tax bill, the bulk of which is set by local authorities.

It comes after nearly 70 per cent of those consulted about Burnham's Andy police precept proposal said they would not support it - although nearly a fifth said they'd support a bigger hike.