Police concerned about budget cap

The government said it wanted to protect council tax payers

Police in Surrey have said they are concerned about the impact on the force's operations of a budget cap imposed by the government.

The police authority said it was considering the full implications of the ruling, which restricts its budget to �189.6m for 2009/10.

The government has allowed it to keep its �191.5m budget for this year.

Local Government Minister John Healey said the capping was to protect council tax payers from excessive increases.

The �191.5m budget accepted for 2008/9 represents a 6% increase on 2007/8, but local government minister John Healey imposed the cap on subsequent budgets on Thursday.

'Significant implications'

"We have maintained that the three-year budget put forward by the authority is the best way forward in providing a policing service that puts the Surrey public first," said temporary chief constable Mark Rowley.

"We now have �1.9m less than we had planned.

"This will have significant operational implications and we will work closely with the authority to decide the next stages."

Surrey Police Authority, which has 21 days to respond to the government, is discussing the capping at its meeting on Friday, which is open to the public.

"We are disappointed that the government has not agreed to our proposals," said chairman Peter Williams.

"Whilst we have retained this year's budget, we are concerned about the possible impact of longer-term restrictions.

"This is a serious issue and we will carefully consider what the full impact of the decision is before responding."

Surrey was one of seven police authorities penalised.

"The government is sending out a clear message to all authorities - if you set an excessive increase in council tax, you can expect tough action from us to protect taxpayers," Mr Healey said.

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