Derbyshire’s PCC Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts’ first budget and policing precept has received a full endorsement from the County’s Police and Crime Panel.
At a meeting held today (23 January), members of the 12-strong panel heard that this year’s budget has been developed specifically to strengthen local policing and deliver the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: “Ahead of this budget I have consulted local residents at every stage, from the development of a Police and Crime Plan that prioritises their concerns, to a budget that will enable the Chief Constable to deliver against their priority areas.”
The budget for policing Derbyshire in 2025-26 has been set at £245.61m an increase of 6% over the previous year. This includes a rise of £14 a year in the policing precept (the part of the Council Tax that goes towards policing) for a Band D property, meaning that a Band D property will pay a total of £293.60 towards policing in 2025-26.
Presenting the budget to the Panel, the Police and Crime Commissioner said that the Force, like many other forces across England and Wales, continues to face a significant financial gap due to funding pressures and rising costs. The Government provides 59% of the funding for policing Derbyshire, with the remaining 41% coming from local residents through the portion of the council tax that goes towards policing.
Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts added: “Despite the welcome uplift in funding from the Government, there is still a shortfall due to an increase in costs, including pay increases for officers and staff and the ongoing impact of inflation over the last few years.
“The £14 precept increase is therefore crucial to deliver an efficient and effective police service and sustain key performance improvements across Derbyshire. Without this increase, we risk compromising the quality of policing services and therefore the safety of our communities.
“At a time when I know many household budgets are stretched, I am grateful for the overwhelming support we received from local residents for an increase in the amount they pay towards policing.”
During her presentation, the Commissioner highlighted the Force’s commitment to tackling the issues that matter most to the public, such as violence against women and girls (VAWG) and reducing sexual offences. To date this focus has delivered positive results. However, maintaining this progress requires sustained investment.
Talking about the demands on the force, Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: “Derbyshire Constabulary is one of the lowest spending forces per capita in the country yet demand for services continues to grow. We have seen substantial increases in calls for service, particularly in complex areas such as online crime and fraud. However, despite the previous Government’s Uplift programme, the force still has the same number of officers as in 2010, despite these increased demands.”
The Commissioner continued: “This budget has been a really tough process, because we want to enable everything that the public wants to see. We aim to deliver the best service for our residents, which is why we have taken a pragmatic approach, doing the best we can with the resources available.
“The Chief Constable has assured me that with this budget she will be able to deliver on the priorities in the Police and Crime Plan. These are the public’s priorities and we will address these together.
“Like other PCCs before me, I will lobby the Government tirelessly to seek a resolution to the inequity in funding between different forces. This shouldn’t be a postcode lottery. Whether it is a change to the funding formula which sees forces like Derbyshire lose out to the metropolitan forces and those with a higher precept level, or a wholehearted redistribution based on demand, I will work with the Chief Constable to secure a better deal for Derbyshire.”
Ends
Editor Information:
Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts’ Police and Crime Plan Priorities*:
- Serious Violence including Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
- Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and Community Safety.
- Neighbourhood Policing.
- Bringing Offenders to Justice.
- Drugs and Substance Misuse.
- Supporting Victims and Safeguarding.
*following extensive public consultation and engagement
This year’s budget will enable:
Neighbourhood Policing
- The rollout of new PCSO Investigators to improve positive outcome rates for victims of neighbourhood crime.
- Further improvements to the Neighbourhood Policing model which better responds to the needs of the community.
- Sustainment of a dedicated Rural Crime Team with trained specialists to tackle criminality in rural areas.
- The expansion and development of Derbyshire Alert to ensure that we respond to the issues that matter to our communities, and keep people informed of our progress.
- Police officer attendance to every home burglary reported to the police, with appropriate Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) support.
- Further investment in new technology to further reduce 101 call waiting times and improve customer experience.
Serious Violence & Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
- Increased capacity into High-Risk Domestic Abuse Teams – to provide better outcomes to victims of Domestic Abuse.
- Introduction of Victim Liaison Offices for rape and serious sexual abuse – to provide early support and advice to victims about the criminal justice process, leading to increases in positive outcomes at court.
- Continued investment in Smart Water to protect victims of Domestic Abuse and Stalking.
- Implementation of Operation Soteria, a national operating model to improve outcomes for victims of rape and serious sexual offences.
- Increase in proactive operations to tackle VAWG in the nighttime economy.
- Extending drug testing on arrest to some VAWG offences to understand link between drugs and Domestic Abuse.
- An improved Serious Violence partnership tasking process to incorporate an operational and preventative function to focus on hotspot areas.
- Continued focus on Operation Sceptre to target knife crime enforcement and raise awareness of knife crime within educational establishments, specific to area demographics.
- Serious violence and VAWG awareness training – continued roll out of bystander training within post 16 educational centres and support through wider communication plans.
ASB & Community Safety
- Continuation of an Immediate Justice Scheme ensuring offenders pay back into communities.
- Dedicated hotspot patrols to clamp down on anti-social behaviour on our streets.
- Investment in geo-fencing patrol technology to target police activities and keep the public informed about where we are and why.
- Dedicated enforcement operations to seize and remove e-scooters from our streets to prevent their use in crime, improve road safety and protect residents.
- Improved technology to target dangerous motorists within communities.
Drug Dealing and Substance Misuse
- Outreach and support services funded for young people who experience substance misuse.
- Extending drugs testing on arrest programme to support users find treatment pathways.
- Continued roll-out of naloxone, reducing the risk of drug related deaths by easy access to lifesaving treatment.
Bringing Offenders to Justice
- Continuation of Clear, Hold, Build project tackling organised criminology by pursue activity and partnership working.
- Quarterly enforcement operations to target high risk outstanding suspects.
- Dedicated improving investigations programme to improve quality of investigations and service for victims of crime.
Supporting Victims and Safeguarding
- Creation of a new Victim Care Team to ensure the needs of all victims are understood and met.
- Dedicated Victim Liaison Officers to support victims of rape and serious sexual violence.
- An improved high harm function to tackle serial and repeat offenders.
- Continued focus on securing civil orders to provide extra control measures on offenders.
- Introduction of a Multi-Agency Tasking & Coordination Pilot that targets harmful Domestic Abuse perpetrators.
Budget survey
- Received 2,260 responses – the highest ever for a police budget poll in Derbyshire.
- Over 75% of respondents supported an increase of £12 or more.
- 68.5% were in favour of an increase of £15 or more.
The full reports can be found here: https://bit.ly/3Wx0UXP.