A HAMPSHIRE police chief has welcomed a new government funding settlement, which will see the county’s force get a slice of £970 million in extra cash next year.

However, £500 million of this will come from allowing commissioners to raise their local council tax precept contributions by up to £2 a month for a typical household.

This means locals could pay an extra £24 a year for a band D property, and Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane has indicated he will be looking to make this tax increase next year – although residents must be consulted first.

It is not yet known how much extra funding Hampshire Constabulary will get from the government fund.

The new national budget allowance was announced by Nick Hurd, Minister for Policing, yesterday (December 13). This will see the 2019/20 budget increased to £14 billion.

Mr Lane said: “I want to welcome the Police Funding Settlement for next year – 2019/20 – announced by the Government in parliament.

“It recognises today’s challenges faced by policing, including: increasing demands; greater complexity; and changes in criminal activity.”

He added: “I want to start, as Police and Crime Commissioner, by addressing my prime local responsibilities in relation to local safety and for raising local tax.

“In welcoming the option to raise local precept, I should be immediately clear that there is only one option that I can recommend to the people I serve, with the intention to keep them safer.

“That is to take full advantage of the settlement to protect current police services and use the additional £2 per month option to deliver local safety, through plans devised by the chief constable as the operational expert.”

He added that if locals support him to raise tax, the cash will be used to “ensure that locally

communities will have the same level of policing support – configured by the chief constable

and her team to meet current threats”.

He also said that the additional funding will protect recruiting and training for the workforce of the order of 200 new police officers, around 60 police staff Investigators, and a course for new PCSOs.

A public consultation survey will be released later today.

Breaking down the £970 million of national funding, £161 million will come from Government grants, with a further £150 million will be available to pay into police pension pots.

An extra £59 million will be given towards counter-terror policing and £90 million is being made available to tackle economic and cyber crime, as well as child sexual exploitation.

In a joint statement, Hampshire Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney and Alex Charge, the Hampshire Police Federation chairman, said: “We very much welcome today’s announcement that our Police and Crime Commissioner is recommending the maximum investment for policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and that this would all be used on policing services.

"The challenges of funding faced by the constabulary are well documented, and this would give us the opportunity to protect the service we can offer to our local communities.”