On January 4, 2024, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) opened its annual public consultation on whether to (yet again) increase Council Tax to fund more police.
GM Mayor Andy Burnham and Deputy Mayor Kate Green have requested an increase in the Police Precept that will cost taxpayers an additional £10.5 million in 2024/25, including a £13 increase to B and D properties.
Recent public consultations show widespread opposition to increases in the Police Precept with clear majorities expressing a preference for a freeze or reduction in 2022 (74%) and 2023 (61.8%).
However, the GM Police, Crime and Fire Panel, the committee empowered to approve any increase in the Precept, have repeatedly disregarded public opposition and pressed forward with the hikes proposed by the Mayor. In January 2022, members of the public were even removed from a supposedly-public meeting of the Panel for challenging Mayor Burnham on this undemocratic process.
Despite these barriers, it is critical that we continue to express our opposition to hikes in the Precept that serve to exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis at the same time as giving greater power to an institution that continues to cause great harm in our communities.
For this reason, the Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP) are calling on all concerned community members to vote ‘NO’ to any increase in the Police Precept before the consultation closes on January 24, 2024.