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HOUSEHOLDS across Merseyside will pay 5% more for policing next year after the city region’s police authority set an inflation-busting tax increase yesterday.
The force says the rise was necessary to offset a “disappointing” grant settlement from the Government.
For most Merseyside households the rise means the policing element of their council tax will rise by £4.47 a year, or 9p per week.
The authority has pledged an extra 79 operational officers will join the front line in the coming year.
They will include 32 new officers and 47 others redeployed from back office duties. The majority of these will be deployed across Merseyside, but some will join the Matrix Firearms Unit and others bolstering the Schools Officer contingent.
The force will also create a £300,000 Taser “reserve fund” in case it chooses to hand out more of the 50,000-volt stun guns.
