Overview
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s panel backed a 5.45% increase, adding £15 a year for a Band D home for 2026/27.
- PCC Donna Jones says the uplift will fund 36 officers, including 16 for neighbourhood teams, five local bobbies and a new Fugitive Team of 15 officers plus three analysts.
- The constabulary’s 2026/27 budget is about £516m with roughly 41% from local taxpayers, taking the policing precept to around £290m.
- A public consultation in Hampshire drew more than 4,000 responses, with about 92% supporting a precept rise.
- Essex’s panel approved a £14.94 rise—around 29p a week for Band D—yet the force is consulting on redundancies for more than 100 staff as it redeploys 39 officers to neighbourhood policing and reports receiving 2.25% of national funding despite representing 2.5% of national policing.