Council Tax

The Minister should understand from my record that I am in favour of tight budgets, value for money and efficiency—and proportionality as well. The most interesting thing for me about this debate is that I expected to support enthusiastically my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill); unusually, however, I find myself supporting many of the points made by the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Dan Rogerson), although not necessarily the theory behind them. The hon. Gentleman has certainly done a little homework—presumably, it was for the Westminster Hall debate—on the background to the situation of Surrey police. Surrey police force and Surrey police authority are very efficient, and have had plaudits from organisations such as the Audit Commission that have looked at them. The police force receives the lowest grant per head of population of any police force. It is rather galling to hear from Ministers about increases and how much money has been put into police forces nationally and then to look at the reality for Surrey. The grant for Surrey police has decreased in real terms. In 1997, it received £96 per head of population; now, 12 years later, it receives £93 per head. [Interruption.] I am sorry that the Minister is not listening; perhaps she will read what I am saying later. The real-terms reduction in grant is 39 per cent.—a considerable clobbering for Surrey police. This saga's big complication, which has only just been touched on, is that the Government have made their calculations on a notional budget and hence a national council tax. In June last year, the chief executive of Surrey police authority was informed that the Secretary of State had decided to nominate the authority for capping purposes and that it would be given a notional budget. However, no constraint or capping level related to that notional budget was mentioned at the time. When, in contrast to the police authority, Surrey police force started doing its budgetary calculations, the idea of a notional budget was raised with the Government as a precautionary measure. In a reply dated 25 July 2008, Department for Communities and Local Government lawyers replied that""there is no requirement on the Surrey police authority to calculate a notional level of Council Tax (based on the notional budget requirement) for 2008/09 and Surrey police authority will set their budget requirement and their precept for 2009/10…in the normal way"." At the end of October, Surrey police force—the force, not the authority—was informed that if Ministers decided to use their capping powers, a notional council tax might be used. Again, there was a warning that no decisions had been made. In early November, Surrey police force—again, not the authority—sought further clarification and was told that the police authority was to be informed on the position regarding notional council tax in due course. That confirmation did not arrive with the police authority until 28 January 2009—literally within hours of the actual budget and precept being set. The capping designation now is that Surrey police authority is faced with the ludicrous situation of rebilling all Surrey council tax payers for a minimal reduction. The squeeze on Surrey police authority's grant and its budget ceiling means that it has had to cut staff progressively. It has calculated its manpower levels for the years 2009-10 to 2012-13. It commences, before the capping, with a reduction of 159 personnel for this year, moving to a total reduction of 373 policemen and women in 2012-13. This is before designation and rebilling take effect. The cost of designation is a further £1.6 million cut. The cumulative effect over the same period is a further reduction of 55 policemen and women. The rebilling will cost Surrey police authority £1.2 million. It has used the rebilling authorities—the district councils—to assess this. That translates into a further reduction of 24 personnel—24 fewer policemen and women. In my area, Mole Valley, that works out at about £4.65 per bill. That means that at band D, it costs £1.47 more than the reduction: not until band F is the negative position reversed. I hope that the Minister can visualise the huge sigh of relief in every band D household when their council tax bill drops through the door for the second time, giving them a huge annual reduction of £3.18. As most people pay in 10 monthly instalments, the reduction will be 32p a month. Most people will be confused; some will be bemused. If they are aware of the cost to their already strapped police force of the rebilling, in addition to the capping, they will be very unhappy, if not furious. Local authorities throughout Surrey will have to reset their direct debits for every council tax payer paying by those means. Many thousands of Surrey residents who pay by bankers order will have to send a new bankers order form, probably costing 20 per cent. of the total saving just in the stamp and the envelope, and more if one includes the costs to the bank of changing everything. It is a ludicrous, disproportionate situation. Bearing in mind the tiny saving, the Department could easily set the designation to next year, but for Surrey police authority alone, Ministers have decided to place a further cut, with the expensive, unnecessary, bureaucratic rebilling. Looming in the background is the prospect of a judicial review, which will be interesting, as I think I am correct in saying that nowhere in the new legislation does the word "notional" appear in relation to capping as regards either budgets or council tax. However, that is not my decision or the Minister's—it will be for the court. The additional cuts to pay for this rebilling have meant a lesser, more stretched police presence in difficult circumstances that will be exaggerated by the current economic climate. The Government do not have to require a rebilling, and common sense demands that they do not.