Andy Burnham is planning for every taxpayer in Greater Manchester to pay at least £10 more each year to fund the police.
The Greater Manchester mayor wants to raise the part of the council bill which goes to policing by the full amount allowed, increasing the total police precept for Band A properties to £162.20 next year.
The money will be used to set up dedicated crime teams in each district to proactively tackle and investigate burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, respond to 101 and 999 calls faster and investigate crimes quicker.
This comes just months after Greater Manchester Police was lifted from special measures following a report in late 2020 which identified serious failings.
We asked people in Manchester for their opinions on this proposal.
The Greater Manchester mayor wants to raise the part of the council bill which goes to policing by the full amount allowed, increasing the total police precept for Band A properties to £162.20 next year.
The money will be used to set up dedicated crime teams in each district to proactively tackle and investigate burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, respond to 101 and 999 calls faster and investigate crimes quicker.
This comes just months after Greater Manchester Police was lifted from special measures following a report in late 2020 which identified serious failings.
We asked people in Manchester for their opinions on this proposal.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Andy Burnham is planning for every taxpayer in Greater Manchester to pay at least £10
00:06 more each year to fund the police.
00:08 The Greater Manchester Mayor wants to raise the part of the council bill which goes to
00:11 policing by the full amount allowed, increasing the total police precept for Band A properties
00:17 to £162.20 next year.
00:21 The money will be used to set up dedicated crime teams in each district to proactively
00:25 tackle and investigate burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, respond to 101 and 999 calls
00:31 faster and investigate crimes quicker.
00:34 This comes just months after Greater Manchester Police was lifted from special measures following
00:39 a report in late 2020 which identified serious failings.
00:43 We asked people in Manchester for their opinions on this proposal.
00:46 I think £10 a year probably you wouldn't really particularly notice.
00:50 I mean I know there's the cost of living crisis but I think £10 is probably not a lot to
00:54 pay for the police.
00:56 It would be good to see a few more round and about.
00:59 Lots of people don't bother to even report crimes, particularly burglaries or break-ins,
01:03 car troubles, whatever, because they feel there's no point because the police don't
01:07 have any time or money.
01:09 Because there's lots of people that are especially getting robbed in houses and the police don't
01:14 arrive and that's the sort of thing.
01:17 Just to be there when they needed to turn up, not just to say, "OK, I'll put it on the
01:22 list."
01:23 Where I live you never see a policeman, ever, ever.
01:26 So they need to be seen, they need to be driving about in the cars or walking about like they
01:31 did years ago.
01:32 I think we pay enough kinds of taxes as it is, to be honest, and not the fact that I
01:36 think we need to increase the price but I think we need to increase the police in the
01:40 city centre.
01:41 It's absolutely ridiculous, especially in places like Piccadilly Gardens where it's
01:45 got a high crime rate and there's no one, there's no police there at all.
01:49 I think the job is to protect and help people, not just for major crime, to be doing everyday
01:55 crime as well.
01:56 I don't really think that you should get more money at all, to be honest, I think we've
01:58 got enough money.
01:59 Respect for the police isn't great, across the country, not just in Manchester, and I
02:03 think maybe putting more training into how police handle situations.
02:07 There's been situations where I've witnessed myself where there's been crimes committed
02:11 and the police have been very close but haven't stepped up.
02:14 I feel if we're going to start putting money into something that's already defected then
02:19 maybe we should concentrate on getting that to a certain standard before we then start
02:22 trusting the police in doing the job just to get an extra tenner off everyone.
02:28 All these plans that are going ahead for leisure facilities and so on, a lot of the people
02:32 in Manchester won't be able to afford that anyways.
02:35 If there was more things to do they wouldn't be on the streets, there'd be less crime and
02:38 the police would be able to control things better and actually put the money where their
02:42 mouth is, so to speak.
02:43 We have a really, really poor police force.
02:45 We have a police force with an appalling record at the moment.
02:49 So funding Greater Manchester Police as it currently operates is just not on as far as
02:56 I'm concerned.
02:57 I'd sooner see them completely disbanded and rebuilt.
03:01 For how long have they been in special measures now?
03:03 And the solution that says give them more money is no sort of solution at all in my