Information
Council Tax Leaflet 2023/24
Your Police and Fire precepts 2023/24
As your Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, one of my responsibilities is setting the precept for both police and fire – this is the part of your council tax that goes towards the funding of Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
In 2023/24, an average Band D household in the county will pay £293.04 towards policing and £73.20 towards the fire and rescue service. Together, the amount you pay towards those two emergency services represents around 18 per cent of your total council tax bill.
This amounts to £15 extra for police – or 29p a week – and £5 more for fire – under 10p a week – for a band D property. I understand the pressures that every household is facing this year and it is not easy to ask you to pay more. But it is the right thing to do, and people have told me that they are prepared to pay more to support continued investment in these vital emergency services. Investment and improvement to both police and fire are well underway.
Over the past few years, we’ve invested in more police officers and firefighters and have improved performance, and that comes at a cost. Maintaining the improvements that we have made is just about sustainable with this level of precept increase, but we will still need to make further savings.
I know that times are tough for everyone, and so I will do my utmost to ensure that we deliver the best value possible for you, and provide you with a police force and fire service that you can be proud of and that makes Northamptonshire safer for you and your families.
Stephen Mold – Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
How much will I pay for Policing in 2023/24?
The Police Services Precept
The policing precept is the part of the council tax that you pay towards policing in Northamptonshire. The amount you pay depends on your council tax band.
Around fourteen percent of your council tax bill is passed on to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner as the policing precept. The Commissioner is then responsible for allocating the police budget to the Chief Constable.
This year, the policing precept is increasing by around 5.39% or £15 a year for a band D household.
The table below sets out how much you will pay for policing next year.
| Band | Property Value (1991) | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,00 | £195.36 |
| B | £40,00 to £52,00 | £227.92 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £260.48 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £293.04 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £358.16 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £423.28 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £488.40 |
| H | Over 320,001 | £586.08 |
Total Income for Police £168.6m
Where the money comes from:
In 2023/24, Policing will receive funding of £168.6m to deliver Policing services. This is an increase of £8.2m on the previous year to support the additional police officers recruited.
Of this amount, around 45% (£76.2m) comes from local taxpayers with the balance of 55% (£92.4m) coming from central government in the form of police and pension grants.
Where the money will be spent:
Police Officers, Staff and PCSOs 67.6%
Collaborative Policing and third party costs 5.2%
Other costs 6.3%
Support (Enabling) Services 15.3%
Capital Financing 1.6%
Office of the PFCC 0.7%
Delivery and Commissioning 2.8%
Ring Fenced Investment 0.5%
How much will I pay for Fire and Rescue Services?
The Fire and Rescue Services Precept
The fire and rescue precept is the part of the council tax that you pay towards policing in Northamptonshire. The amount you pay depends on your council tax band.
Around four percent of your total council tax bill is passed on to Fire as the fire and rescue precept.
This year, the fire and rescue precept is increasing by around 7.33% or £5 a year for a band D household.
The table below sets out how much you will pay towards fire and rescue next year.
| Band | Property Value (1991) | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,00 | £48.80 |
| B | £40,00 to £52,00 | £56.93 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £65.07 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £73.20 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £89.47 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £105.73 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £122.00 |
| H | Over 320,001 | £146.40 |
Total Income for Fire £29.6m
Where the money comes from:
In 2023/24, Fire will receive funding of £29.6m to deliver Fire services. This is an increase of £2.5m on the previous year to support essential Fire services in the county.
Of this amount, around 64% (£19m) comes from local taxpayers, £6.6m (22%) from Business Rates and top up grant, with the balance of £4m (14%) from central government in the form of fire and pension grants.
Where the money will be spent:
Firefighters and Staff 65.7%
Other Employee Costs 3.5%
Governance and Enabling and other Support Services 11.4%
Other non pay costs 18.0%
Capital Financing 1.4%
OPFCC Delivery and Commissioning
| Delivery and Commissioning | Budget (£m) | Grants/Income (£m) | Net (£m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioning | 0.100 | (0.075) | 0.025 |
| Victims and witnesses & Domestic Violence Support | 2.233 | (1.321) | 0,912 |
| Joint Communications Team with NFRS (Fire) | 0.133 | – | 0.133 |
| Early Intervention and Youth | 2.455 | – | 2.455 |
| Reducing Reoffending | 0.716 | – | 0.716 |
| Delivery and Accountability | 0.086 | – | 0.086 |
| Crime Prevention | 0.260 | – | 0.260 |
| Customer Services – Complaints | 0.181 | – | 0.181 |
| Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery Fund | 0.250 | – | 0.250 |
| Total Expenditure | 6.414 | (1.396) | 5.018 |
During the year… some facts and figures
Northamptonshire Police now has more police officers than it has ever had, with more than 1500 officers
In the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) update (Autumn 2022), Northamptonshire Police were the only force in England and Wales to reduce crime by -0.6% where crime rose nationally on average by 12.9%
The force also ranked 1st nationally for its change compared with the previous 12 months of performance, making it a national leader in the 12 months to June 2022 in reducing victim-based crime
These improvements compared with the previous year put the force in the top 10 performing across most categories of victim-based crime
Northamptonshire Police was the first Force in England and Wales to make a commitment that every victim of burglary would be visited by a police officer. This has delivered real results over the last 3 years
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service has 242 whole time and 200 on call firefighters
22 fire stations are in operation
8 new, state-of-the-art fire appliances were delivered
1879 fires and 456 road traffic collisions were attended
1382 special services were attended – that’s everything other than fires and road traffic collisions
4222 home fire safety visits were conducted
1210 protective risk inspections were carried out
Grant Funding
As Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner I actively seek additional grant funding to support new or existing local and national initiatives, as well as offsetting additional costs for Fire and Policing.
Since 2016/17, over £12.7m has been secured for Policing and since 2018/19, over £4.9m for Fire in Northamptonshire.
This leaflet can be viewed and downloaded as a pdf here
Northants OFPCC Council Tax Leaflet 2023 2024
