POLICE chiefs will today (Thursday, February 6) vote on whether to increase the force’s precept tax by £1 per month.

The increase, which will “maintain services at their current level”, would mean families living in a Band-D Wiltshire property would pay £18 each month in tax for policing, which is equivalent to £218 annually.

The vote will take place in Trowbridge this morning, following the end of the public consultation last Friday.

As reported, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire Angus Macpherson says the extra cash will be used to “maintain” current service levels after recruiting 41 officers and two dedicated cyber-crime staff in 2019.

These officers will be “joining your community policing teams soon,” he adds.

Mr Macpherson said: “The government’s commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 officers provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen the police nationally.

“In the first year, 6,000 additional officers will be recruited nationally and 49 of those will be in Wiltshire. I expect this to be fully funded by the government.

“However, this is not a quick fix and we still need to make savings in other areas across the force to meet increased costs such as inflation, national pay awards and increased demand.

“In order to maintain services at their current level, I need to protect both officer and staff numbers. I can only do this if funding allows.

“This increase in council tax and the national increase in officers, we will increase officers from 979 [by 49] to 1,028. It will also protect the 131 PCSOs and 991 staff members across the force.”

Wiltshire, even with the increase, will remain as the third lowest funding-per-head force in England and Wales, the PCC added.