Dear resident, 

Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend is asking Surrey residents whether they would be prepared to pay a little extra to support the county’s ‘fast improving’ police service over the coming year.

In the last 12 months, Surrey Police has more than DOUBLED its charge rate with an additional 3,500 offences being prosecuted. It has also made over 2,500 more arrests and made dramatic improvements in tackling offences important to residents such as burglary, shoplifting, child abuse and rape.

The Commissioner says this has made Surrey Police one of the fastest improving forces in the country. 

But in order to maintain this momentum, protect victims and continue to make our communities even safer, Lisa says Surrey Police desperately need funding to ensure that hard work isn’t undone.  

Those who live in Surrey are being invited to fill in a brief survey on whether they would support an increase of a little over £1 extra a month on an average council tax bill for 2025/26.

Complete the survey here 

One of the PCC’s key responsibilities is to set the overall budget for Surrey Police. That includes determining the level of council tax raised for policing in the county, known as the precept, which funds the Force together with a grant from central government. 

In December, the Government announced their policing settlement for the next financial year which includes the level of precept Police and Crime Commissioners can ask the public to pay. They have assumed that this year PCCs will increase that precept by the maximum £14 per Band D property that they have set. This equates to £1.16 a month on an average household or 4.3% across all council tax bands.

Every pound of precept amounts to an extra half-a-million pounds in the policing budget. 

Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey Lisa Townsend said: “When I set the police budget last year, I pledged that Surrey residents’ council tax contributions would be focused on what policing does best - fighting crime in our local communities, getting tough on offenders and protecting people.  

“The progress we have seen over the last 12 months has been really impressive. The charge rate has been doubled and huge strides have been made in tackling those crimes important to our residents. 

“The Chief Constable’s plan is working but there is still more to do to take the fight to criminals in Surrey. I want to ensure our police teams are properly funded so we can bolster our visible local policing presence in local communities, provide a swift and effective police response when you need us and support victims in our county going through the criminal justice process. 

“The reality is that the government settlement this year will not cover the increased costs we continue to face. The Force is making every effort to find efficiencies across the board, but they still must make in the region of £18m in savings over the next four years. 

“Our policing teams do a fantastic job keeping our communities safe. I want Surrey Police to build on the brilliant progress they have made over the last year and continue to tackle those issues that matter to you.

“It is important to me to find out what Surrey residents think and whether they would be willing to pay a little extra to support our policing teams again this year. So I would ask everyone to take a minute to fill out our brief survey and let me know what you think.” 

The council tax survey will close at midnight on 2 February 2025. The council tax survey will close at midnight on 2 February 2025. For more information visit our webpage here

Kind regards, 

Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner