POLICE, FIRE AND CRIME PANEL REPORT
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Meeting Date |
5th February 2026 |
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Report Title |
The 2026/27 Police Precept Proposal |
Information should be accessible for all. If you require this information in a different language or format, please contact the Police, Fire and Crime Team at info@northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk.
1 Purpose
1.1 Legislation requires that the Mayor agrees his budget and associated precept and basic council tax for the forthcoming year before 1st March each year. However, before doing so, he must notify this Panel of the precept which he proposes to issue for the following year.
2 Recommendations
2.1 The Panel is asked to consider the Mayors proposal to set the Band D Police Element of the Council Tax within York and North Yorkshire for 2026/27 at £335.86. This is an increase of £15, or 4.67%, over the 2025/26 level.
2.2 The Panel is asked to note that each £1 increase adds around 2 pence per week to a Band D property and generates around £327k additional income.
2.3 The Panel is asked to support this proposal.
3 Reasons
3.1 The balance of the cost of the police service not paid for by central government is met by local taxpayers through a precept on their council tax. In North Yorkshire this will equate to just under 46% of the overall income that the Mayor will receive for Policing in 2026/27. It is the responsibility of the two local billing authorities to collect this.
3.2 Legislation requires the precept for 2026/27 to be set before 1st March 2026 and that the first step in enabling this to happen is that the Mayor is required to inform this panel of his proposed precept by the 1st February 2026. Which he did by submitting this report prior to that date.
3.3 In making the proposal on the Police precept the Mayor has considered the following:
· The views of the public of York and North Yorkshire
· The financial impact on the people of York and North Yorkshire.
· The financial needs of the organisation as currently projected both for 2026/27 and in the future.
· Current levels of inflation
· The limits imposed by the Government on a precept increase before a referendum would be triggered in York and North Yorkshire.
· The proposals have been discussed with the Chief Constable and a letter sent to the Chief Constable setting out the importance of Value for Money in everything that the Force does.
· The Mayor has widely engaged and consulted with the public on the options that were available to him.
3.4 Police Funding Settlement 2026/27
3.5 The 2026-27 Provisional Settlement was announced on 18 December in a written ministerial statement by the Minister of State for Policing and Crime, Sarah Jones.
3.6 The Minister said “Total funding for police forces, including Counter-Terrorism Policing, will be up to £19.5 billion in 2026-27, an increase of up to £798 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. Total funding to territorial police forces will be up to £18.3 billion, an increase of up to £746 million compared to 2025-26. This equates to a 4.2% cash increase and a 2.0% real terms increase for police forces. For Police and Crime Commissioners in England the council tax referendum threshold will be £15 for a Band D property.
3.7 Funding for Counter-Terrorism Policing will increase by at least £52 million to £1.2 billion in 2026-27. Police and Crime Commissioners will be notified separately of force-level funding allocations for CT Policing, which will not be made public for security reasons.
3.8 “We will publish a Police Reform White Paper in early 2026 which will set out a vision to bring policing into the modern age with the technology, innovation and structures they need to ensure policing can focus on the crimes that matter to the public and to drive out waste and inefficiency. As with previous years, a copy of the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2026-27 will be laid before the House by my rt hon Friend, the Home Secretary, in the New Year.”
3.9 After this the Home Secretary and the Minister of State for Crime and Policing wrote to the Deputy Mayor on the 16th January setting out the following additional information.
3.10 ‘Having considered feedback from forces on the provisional settlement, I have decided to provide an additional £50m which will be used to support the government’s neighbourhood policing objectives. This means total police funding to police forces will be up to £18.4bn, an increase of £796m compared to 2025-26, a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase.’
3.11 ‘The priority of the 2026-27 settlement is to boost visible policing and ensure policing can shape their workforce to meet modern crime demands. Every community deserves visible, pro-active and accessible neighbourhood policing with officers tackling the issues that matter to them. To achieve this, the Government made £200 million available to police forces in 2025-26 to kickstart the journey towards delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this parliament. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every neighbourhood now has named and contactable officers dedicated to tackling local issues, with forces increasing patrols in town centres and other hotspots based on local demand.’
3.12 ‘We have listened to the concerns of policing, and we have decided that, as currently designed, the Officer Maintenance Grant has become a barrier to, rather than an enabler of, more visible policing. A funding mechanism that has in some instances led to forces placing more officers in back-office roles is not helpful and prevents forces from building a workforce with the mix of skills necessary to tackle crime, which relies on the important contribution of specialist police staff. We will therefore be removing your force’s overall officer headcount target and replacing it with a Neighbourhood Policing target in 2026-27. The government still expects forces to prioritise maintaining overall operational capacity but has listened to feedback on the importance of workforce flexibility.’
3.13 ‘To simplify the police funding settlement, there will only be one conditional workforce grant in the 2026-27 settlement: the Neighbourhood Policing ringfence grant. To qualify for this grant forces will need to meet their Neighbourhood Policing target.’
3.14 ‘The Government is committed to growth of 13,000 in neighbourhood police teams by the end of the Parliament. We expect the national number of neighbourhood officers (including both police officers and PCSOs) to rise by up to 3,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) in England and Wales by the end of March 2026 and an additional 1,750 FTE in 2026-27, bringing the total growth by the end of March 2027 to 4,750 FTE. The Police Funding Formula (PFF) will underpin the distribution of this 1,750 2026-27 growth target between forces.’
3.15 ‘We expect forces to prioritise redeploying police officers from back-office functions or areas where warranted officers are not required.’
3.16 ‘The Neighbourhood Policing grant for your force will be £3,559,741. Your initial share of expected national growth of 1,750 in Year 2 of the Programme is 17. Final force-level targets will be communicated in due course’
3.17 Core Funding
3.18 Assuming every ‘PCC’, or equivalent, takes the full £15 precept, the total amount of extra funding available for PCC’s is £796m of which £363m (46%) would come from Council Tax – however this is a local decision for each ‘PCC’.
3.19 Of the £796m increase, £205m is needed ‘simply’ to pay for last year’s higher than budgeted (and funded) pay award.
3.20 This leaves only £591m, or 3.4% (nationally) to fund inflation, pay awards, unavoidable demand increases and all other pressures.
3.21 Core Police Officer Uplift/Maintenance Grant
3.22 North Yorkshire received £3,407k in 2025/26 to maintain Police Officer numbers at 1,644 (Headcount).
3.23 This grant has now been removed along with all overall Police Officer number targets.
3.24 Additional Police Officer Uplift Funding
3.25 Last year the Ministerial Statement that accompanied the Policing Settlement stated that “We are grateful to those forces who have gone above and beyond in recruiting additional officers to maximise the strength of their workforce. We expect that these forces prioritise maintaining these officer numbers and have provided funding to achieve this”.
3.26 This policy has not continued into 2026/27 and the £1,528k extra Grant that North Yorkshire bid for to fund 29 additional Police Officers is no longer going to be paid as a separate ring-fenced grant.
3.27 Pay Award
3.28 During 2025/26 both Police Officers and Police Staff were awarded a 4.2% pay award with effect from the 1st September 2025. The additional cost of a 4.2% award (above a 2.8% assumption) is around £205m for 2026/27. There has been no additional funding provided to the Comprehensive Spending Review Totals to reflect this higher pay award.
3.29 Pensions Grant
3.30 The total Pensions Gant of £4,622k is supposed to fund an increase in the Employers Pension Contribution Rate that was 21.3% in 2018/19 and is now 35.3%.
3.31 The real cost of this additional 14% contribution into the Police Pension Fund to North Yorkshire, is in excess of £10m – a shortfall of around £6m per year, which is being absorbed and/or has been funded by precept increases in previous years.
3.32 Funding for Neighbourhood Policing
3.33 Last year’s final funding settlement included a new Neighbourhood Policing Grant, worth £200m in recognition of the Government’s priority for police visibility and neighbourhood policing.
3.34 This fund has been used to recruit an additional 32 Police Officers and 20 PCSOs and was expected to form part of a multi-year programme, spanning the length of the Parliament.
3.35 A further £50m nationally has been added to the £200m funding from last year, for this Government priority. Of this £250m, £2,443k has been allocated to North Yorkshire, however funding from elsewhere within the funding settlement to North Yorkshire has been add to this ring-fenced amount, although this is not additional funding. This means that £3,560k will be at risk if North Yorkshire do not deliver against the targets that are set for delivering additional capacity and resources into Neighbourhood Policing.
3.36 Core Funding
3.37 Based on the analysis released by the Government, Core Funding to PCC’s has increased by 4.5% in 2026/27, this however assumes that all PCCs increase their Precept by £15, this also assumes that the Tax Base in all areas increase by 0.9%.
3.38 The Government calculate the increase in North Yorkshire (including a £15 increase in Precept) would be 4.4%.
3.39 However, given that the underlying Council Tax base in North Yorkshire has increase by 1.02%, versus the assumption of a 0.9% increase, and that there is a larger council tax collection fund surplus that last year, then the overall increase in Core funding will be slightly above the National average at 4.6%.
3.40 Where does this leave North Yorkshire in 2026/27 in terms of Funding?
· An increase in of Core Police Grant of £7,028k
· An increase in Neighbourhood Policing Grant of £1,613k
· The removal of the Police Officer Maintenance Grant worth £3,407k.
· The removal of the Additional Police Officer Uplift Grant worth £1,528k.
· Further grants totalling £15,376k frozen at the same level at 2025/26.
3.41 Based on the precept being proposed, of £335.86 for a Band D property, then the overall impact on the Core funding for the organisation is set to increase by 4.6%, or just over £10.1m, as set out in the table below:
** A note on how Police Grant and RSG/National Non Domestic Rates is allocated is included at Appendix 5 to this report.
3.42 Government Funding for 2027/28 and beyond
3.43 On 11 June 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, announced the outcome of the Spending Review 2025 (SR2025). The Spending Review sets out revenue funding allocations for each Government department over the next three years (2026-27 to 2028-29) with an additional fourth year for capital allocations. The Spending Review is the first multi-year Spending Review since 2021, and the first to happen outside of a pandemic since 2015.
3.44 According to the Spending Review, police spending power will increase by an average of 2.3% per year (2023-24 to 2028-29), in real terms, over the SR period. This funding will be used to support frontline policing levels and help restore public confidence. This reflects the Government’s Plan for Change commitment to put an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs, and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles over the course of this parliament.
3.45 The funding allocations set out within the Spending Review for Policing were as follows:
· 2026/27 - £19.6bn
· 2027/28 - £20.3bn
· 2028/29 - £20.8bn
3.46 The above figures include the funding that is generated from local precept as well as funding from Government.
3.47 If the assumption nationally is that Council Tax bases continue to increase by 0.9% per year, and a precept increase limit of £15 per year is set for a Band D property then Government Funding is forecast to increase by the following:
· 2027/28 – 2.4%
· 2028/29 – 1.0%
3.48 The current plan assumes the above scenarios for planning purposes.
3.49 Top Slices
3.50 In 2025-26, reallocations (also referred to as ‘top slices’) totalled £914.3m, no information has been provided for 2026/27 at the time of writing this report.
3.51 Council Tax Legacy Grant
3.52 The Council Tax Legacy Grants relating to Council Tax Freeze grants from 2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 as well as Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) have not been separately identifiable in 2026/27 yet.
3.53 We have assumed that these have again remained flat cash settlements and therefore take no account of any changes for inflation or local need since they were awarded and is another area where additional costs are having to be ‘absorbed’.
3.54 Counter Terrorism
3.55 The Minister announced that funding for Counter-Terrorism Policing will increase by at least £52 million to £1.2 billion in 2026-27. Police and Crime Commissioners will be notified separately of force-level funding allocations for CT Policing, which will not be made public for security reasons
3.56 Ministry of Justice Grants
3.57 The Mayor has been informed that he will receive £1,890k from the Ministry of Justice in 2026/27 to deliver Victims Services, this is an increase of £37k from last year.
3.58 The Mayor has also been informed that this funding stream will increase by 2% to £1,927k in 2027/28.
3.59 Additional Funding
3.60 Beyond the usual Core Funding and Specific Grant funding, the Mayor is currently receiving several areas of funding in 2025/26 that have not yet been confirmed for 2026/27.
3.61 Which funding does this relate to?
3.62 The Mayor was allocated the following in 2025/26:
3.63 £260k to continue to deliver against the Serious Violence Duty – this has yet to be confirmed – the financial plans assume this will continue in 2026/27.
3.64 £1,000k to deliver hotspot response patrols in locations identified as high for ASB or serious violence – this funding has yet to be confirmed for 2026/27.
3.65 MTFP Assumptions
When the 2025/26 budget was set in February 2025 the forecasts were underpinned by the following assumptions:
· Pay Awards:
o 2025/26 – 2.5% increase
o 2026/27 and beyond – 2.0% increase
· Precept: Increases of:
o 2025/26 – £14 or 4.56%
o 2026/27 and beyond – £12 per annum
· Tax Base increases of:
o 2025/26 – 2.9%
o 2026/27 and beyond – 1.4% per annum
· Government Grants increases of:
o 2026/27 and beyond – 2.0%
· Impact of Funding Formula review – Nil
3.66 Clearly much has changed in the last year and therefore in line with good planning our assumptions remain under review and are updated with the best information available. It is expected that the MTFP for 2026/27 and beyond will assume the following:
o 2026/27 – 3.0% increase
o 2027/28 – 2.5% increase
o 2028/29 and beyond 2% increase
· Precept: Increases of:
o 2026/27 – £15 or 4.67%
o 2027/28 and beyond – £15 per annum
· Tax Base increases of:
o 2027/28 and 2028/29 – 1.3% per annum
· Government Grants increases of:
o 2027/28 – 2.4%
o 2028/29 – 1.0%
o 2029/30 and beyond 2%
· Impact of any Funding Formula review – Nil
4 Local Financial Context
4.1 Income Forecasts
4.2 Based on these revised assumptions and the information received and forecast around other areas of funding then the entire funding expected to be available to the Mayor for Policing for the next 4 years, in comparison to 2025/26, is as follows:
4.3 Once all funding sources have been factored in then we currently forecast that Total Funding will increase by just over £10.8m, or 4.7% in 2026/27.
4.4 Pay Increases and Inflation Pressures
4.5 While the overall increases in Total Funding seem reasonable across most of the life of the plan, and very good in 2026/27, it is important to reflect on the additional costs that need to be funded from these increases.
4.6 The 2025/26 pay budgets had forecast that pay awards would be 2.5% during 2025/26. However, given the higher levels of inflation over the last few years, both pay awards were settled at 4.2%.
4.7 The recurring impact of this additional 1.7% is around £3.1m of additional costs from 2026/27 onwards.
4.8 In addition to the current year position on pay, the MTFP now forecasts that the pay award for all employees will be 3.0% for 2026/27, this is expected to add around £3.8m to the pay costs in 2026/27.
4.9 The impact of these assumptions and changes, along with general budget changes for pay increments, the full year costs of the Officers and PCSOs recruited during 2025/26 and the addition of several roles that are funded through additional income, are that additional costs of almost £9.3m are forecast for 2026/27, in comparison to the 2025/26 original budget. This is summarised in the table below:
4.10 The pay assumptions alone take up more than 85% of the increase in funding that is forecast between 2025/26 and 2026/27.
4.11 In addition to pay pressures there are a significant number of non-pay budgets that have increased as a result of unavoidable costs and inflation, as well the need to invest in certain areas.
4.12 These total almost £4.4m as set out in the table below:
4.13 Putting together all the budget changes provides the following movements from the budget set in 2025/26 before savings and reductions:
4.14 In addition to both pay and non-pressures the following also need to happen:
· The general contribution into the Capital Programme needs to be built back up to support the capital needs of the Force, this has therefore increased from 2025/26 by £705k, to £4m.
· £550k has been added to General reserves to ensure that this stays at the minimum level required for the organisation in line with the agreed reserves strategy.
· The actuarial review of the Local Government Pension has reduced the Employers Contribution to the Pension Fund from 9.5% to just 2.9% - saving the Force around £2.8m per year. Given that this could change in 3 years’ time we are adding £1,720k to a Major Capital Earmarked Reserve this year, and then the full £2.8m in future years, to ensure that should the contribution rate suddenly increase significantly that it remains affordable to the organisation.
· Other minor movements on Reserves result in a total of £3,130k more going into the Capital Programme and Reserves than in 2025/26.
4.15 Where does this leave us overall financially?
4.16 Given that costs have increased by £12,660k, additional capital and reserves contributions have increased by £3,130k, and income by only £10,840k, even after the £15 increase in Band D precept, this left the organisation with savings/efficiencies and reductions of £5,950k to find to balance the budget for 2026/27, as per the summary below:
4.17 Police Force Savings
4.18 As set out within the public consultation on the precept and as the Mayor has set out in writing to the Chief Constable one of the core principles of the Mayor is ‘Having effective, well managed public services that keep people safe and deliver value for money’
4.19 In writing to the Chief Constable, the Mayor emphasised the importance of ‘Delivering Value for Money in All That We Do’.
4.20 Aligned to this the level of savings that have been factored into the 2026/27 budget in relation to the Force are set out below.
4.21 The Force have set out savings of just over £1,910k across the following areas:
· Supplies and Services - £1,460k
· Other non-Salary - £250k
· Transport - £120k
· Estates – £80k
4.22 In addition to the above, savings of around £2,790k have been delivered within the staff pay budgets because of a reduction in the Employers Contribution Rate into the Local Government Pension Scheme.
4.23 These savings, totalling £4,700k, equate to around 2% of the entire expenditure of the organisation.
4.24 Despite all the above savings, this still leaves £1,250k of further reductions/savings required to balance the budget.
4.25 Work is on-going to determine where these savings/reductions will be made. At this stage it is assumed that in the worst case there would be a reduction of 21 Police Officers required to balance the 2026/27 budget.
4.26 Future Efficiencies and productivity
4.27 The Government expects forces to raise their ambition on efficiencies and drive forward improvements to productivity while delivering on the mission to create safer streets. To this end the Government has launched the Police Efficiencies and Collaboration Programme (PECP) which initially focus’ on national buying, and commercial procurement frameworks and cost recovery. The aim is to:
· Maximise the potential of productivity and innovation ensuring officers are equipped with tools to keep our communities safe.
· Reduce inefficiencies and maximise productivity freeing cashable savings and officer time to reinvest in front line activities.
4.28 The overall aim of the PECP is to embed productivity into the culture of policing and ensure improvements are made to unlock cashable and non-cashable savings.
4.29 The Force is committed to driving forward improvements to productivity and the Chief Officer Team is focusing on the following areas to increase productivity and ensure resources are invested in the right areas of the business:
· Robotic Process Automation – review repetitive business processes, freeing up time that can be reinvested in the delivery of front-line services; thereby improving productivity and efficiency.
· Employee ideas - Encouraging staff to identify the things that prevent them from working efficiently and develop solutions to make processes more efficient.
· Technology - making the best use of existing and new technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness and raise quality and standards.
· Procurement reviews - maximising value for money through efficient purchasing and robust contract management.
· Business problem solving – understand the demand in the Force processes and prioritise resource deployment.
· Priority Based Budgeting (PBB) process – pilot set up to assess 5 functional areas looking at cost vs output, productivity improvement linked to process, technology, and innovation. It considers service levels against Force priorities and risk associated with changes to deliver the same level of service with less.
4.30 The Mayor, via the Deputy Mayor will scrutinise the work in this area to ensure that savings and efficiencies are delivered in line with the Mayors core principles and in line with the requirement from the Mayor for the Force to deliver value for money.
4.31 Capital Programme
4.32 There is a significant programme of investment needed across several areas within the Force.
4.33 Across the 5 years of the current Capital Programme, including 2025/26 the Force have set out plans to replace vehicles that will total almost £17m.
4.34 Plans to invest in and maintain the Police Estate is expected to need investment of almost £8m over the next 5 years, while maintaining the IT infrastructure of the Force and ensuring IT equipment is replaced and kept up to date is expected to cost more than £24m across the next 5 years.
4.35 Change Pipeline
Several items that were previously included within the Change Pipeline have now transitioned into either the Capital Programme and/or incorporated into the Revenue Budgets based on approved business cases received during the last 2 years.
4.36 As a result of this, and the need to ensure it remains affordable, the Change Pipeline is now forecast at just over £2m across the next 5 years.
4.37 It is expected that these areas will be developed into business cases and if approved added to the Capital and/or Revenue Budgets as required.
4.38 The funding for this change and investment is factored into the overall approach to financing of the Capital Programme.
4.39 A summary of the Capital Programme, the Change Pipeline and the financing of this is set out at Appendix 2.
5 Public Consultation
5.1 To further inform the decision around the Police precept for 2026/27 consultation has been undertaken with the public to ascertain their feedback and thoughts on this subject.
5.2 Between 17 November 2025 and 5 January 2026, an online, self-completion survey was open to the public of York and North Yorkshire with paper copies offered on request or available to download. The survey combined questions relating to both Police and Fire areas into a single questionnaire. The order of the questions was rotated: half of respondents answered the policing precept question first, while the other half began with the fire and rescue precept question.
5.3 To achieve a more representative sample, targeted community engagement activities were undertaken to boost participation. These included outreach events on high streets and at leisure centres, engagement with local businesses, and email communications to seldom-heard communities.
5.4 During the consultation period, responses were reviewed and targeted social media posts and adverts were used to increase responses from underrepresented areas and communities.
5.5 Full details on the consultation are attached at Appendix 4.
5.6 The public were asked the following question:
5.7 North Yorkshire Police currently has a budget of £232 million. Around £104 million of this (45 per cent) comes from your council tax and the other 55 percent mainly comes from the Government.
5.8 North Yorkshire Police has worked hard to increase the efficiency of how it delivers its services to ensure the public get value for money. To maintain the current level of service, the Police need an extra £12 million to cover inflation and other ongoing costs. About £4.5 million of this would need to be raised through the council tax, with the remainder delivered from savings and increases in Government funding.
5.9 The Government is likely to set a national limit allowing a council tax increase of up to £14 towards policing for an average Band D property. Each £1 raises approximately £325k. The £14 increase would raise about £4.5 million for policing.
5.11 How much more do you think it is reasonable to pay each year for policing in York and North Yorkshire?
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o |
Up to £12 a year (£1 per month) · Raises around £3.9 million · Below the organisation’s inflationary pressures · Would likely lead to reductions in current levels of service delivery unless significant further savings could be delivered |
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o |
Up to £14 a year (£1.17 per month) · Raises around £4.5 million · Matches the organisation’s inflationary pressures. · Maintains current levels of service delivery |
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o
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Up to £16 a year (£1.33 per month) · Raises around £5.2 million · Likely to be higher than the organisation’s inflationary pressures · Allows some investment. For example, in neighbourhood policing, early intervention and prevention activities and tackling violence against women and girls. |
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o
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Up to £18 a year (£1.50 per month) · Raises around £5.9 million · Higher than the organisation’s inflationary pressures · Allows more significant investment. For example, in neighbourhood policing, early intervention and prevention activities and tackling violence against women and girls
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5.12 In total 2,926 responses were received which was an increase of over 600 more than last year. The full results analysis of the consultation is detailed at Appendix 4.
5.13 Of those who answered the finance question, which was 2,585, the consultation showed the majority (66%) support an increase of £14 or more in the policing precept and 47% support an increase of £16 of more in the policing precept.
5.14 The £15 precept proposed within the report is therefore in line with the support of the public.
5.15 A summary of the overall results is shown in the table below:
*figures may not add to 100% due to rounding
Financial Implications
5.16 The Tax Base
The two local Councils have notified the Mayor of their tax bases for 2026/27 as set out in the table below:
5.17 The tax base is expressed in terms of Band D equivalent properties. Actual properties are converted to Band D equivalent by allowing for the relevant value of their tax bands as set down in legislation (ranging from 2/3rds for Band A to double for Band H; discounts for single person occupation, vacant properties, people with disabilities etc;) and a percentage is deducted for non-collection. Allowance is also made for anticipated changes in the number of properties.
5.18 The tax base calculated by the billing authorities differ from the figures used by the Government (which assumes 100% collection) in calculating Grant Formula entitlements.
5.19 As can be seen from the table above the number of Band D equivalent properties across York and North Yorkshire has increased in 2026-27, in comparison to 2025-26, by 3,299 – this equates to an increase of 1.02%.
5.20 The 2026/27 tax base is therefore 327,530.86 Band D Equivalent properties
5.21 Setting the Council Tax
5.22 The precept calculation needs to take account of the net surplus and deficit on the billing authority collection funds. Projected surplus/deficits on the individual funds are shown in the table below.
5.23 The surplus/deficits that have arisen need to be returned through the precept. The final precept to be levied will reflect the position on each council’s collection fund.
5.24 Financial Summary
Net Budget Requirement
Based on the proposed precept increase of £15, or 4.67%, the Net Budget Requirement (NBR) for 2026/27, in comparison to 2025/26, is set out in the table below:
5.25 There is an increase in the Funding for Net Budget Requirement available to the Mayor of £13,437k based on a £15 increase in precept. This equates to an increase of 6.3%.
5.26 It is important to recognise that several items that were previously included within Specific Grants, and therefore outside of the Net Budget Requirement, are now included, which has increased this measure by more than it would have otherwise. The above does not include specific grants nor ‘other’ income that are referred to elsewhere within the report.
5.27 Precept Calculations
The final precept calculations are set out in the tables below based on a 4.67%, or £15, increase:
5.28 The ‘basic amount’ of council tax is the rate for a Band D property. It is calculated by dividing the Council Tax Requirement by the total tax base i.e. £110,004,515 by 327,530.86 giving a council tax rate for Band D properties of £335.86.
5.29 The proposed council tax rate for each property band is determined in accordance with the statutory proportions and is set out in the table below, it also shows the increases for each Band in comparison to 2025/26. It is advised that the tax rates should be calculated to more than 2 decimal places
5.30 As you will see from the table above the impact of the proposal to increase the Police precept by 4.67%, or £15, will increase a household council tax bill by 29 pence per week for a Band D property.
6 Conclusion
6.1 The Police Settlement for 2026/27 has provided the Mayor with an increase in Core Government Funding of £3,707k, or 3.2%. The settlement assumes that the Mayor will maximise the precept flexibility that the Government has provided, which is to increase the Band D Police Precept level by £15 in 2026/27.
6.2 This report sets out a clear financial need for an increase of £15 in the Police Precept in York and North Yorkshire based on the significant increases in costs that have been unavoidable over the last 12 months, mostly in relation to pay awards and inflation.
6.3 To support the overall financial challenges £4,700k of savings have been factored into the 2026/27 Force budget, which leaves a gap of £1,250k.
6.5 Reserves are currently forecast to reduce to around £14m by the end of March 2027 (from £21m at the end of March 2025). This is predominantly to support the Capital programme, and therefore ultimately the Revenue budget, to focus as much funding on service delivery as possible during 2026/27 and beyond.
6.6 These reserves might increase thereafter depending on the use of the newly established Major Capital Reserve.
6.7 The organisational need for an increase, aligned with some significant support from the public for an increase, has lead the Mayor to propose a police precept for 2026/27 of £335.86 for a Band D property within York and North Yorkshire. This is an increase of £15, or 4.67% per annum, from the 2025/26 level
To aid the Panel in considering the proposal on Precept the following are attached to this report:
· Appendix 1 – Draft Budget based on a £15 or 4.67% Precept Increase
· Appendix 2 – Draft Capital Programme
· Appendix 3 – Draft Forecast Reserves Schedule
· Appendix 4 – Report on Police Precept Consultation