Police chief says rejected funding increase could have maintained recent improvements

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

Local police chief said a 6.99 per cent funding increase that was rejected by an independent panel would have helped the force maintain improvements.

Local taxpayers would have been required to meet the increase in the police precept, which is added on top of council tax bills, had the figure put forward by directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioner Jane Mudd been accepted by the cross-party group drawn from four of Gwent’s five local authorities.

Ms Mudd now has until this Sunday, February 15 to put forward a revised precept proposal along with a response to the police and crime panel which rejected her request for a 6.99 per cent increase, which worked out at around £26.37 extra a year for a band D home.

Continued improvements 

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, who attended January’s police and crime panel meeting with Ms Mudd, said the additional funding would have been used to support continued improvements, he said, Gwent Police has made.

But the police chief said he also recognised the panel’s regards for affordability and promised not to “step back” on neighbourhood policing and said the force would continue making improvements.

I thanked them (the panel) for their investment last year and I asked them to give real, careful consideration to what was being requested by the PCC because it would allow us to make those necessary investments in those areas to carry on that journey.

“Whatever comes back my firm commitment is we’re going to carry on that journey in a positive way.”

Hobrough said he appreciated the “very positive” feedback from the panel for the force on what it achieved in 2025 and its plans for this year which he called “really encouraging.”

But added: “What I would say is we’ve made massive strides in 2025 and I wouldn’t want us to step backwards in relation to that. I have no intention, whatever funding comes in, of stepping back on neighbourhood policing that is something I’m passionate about and is close to my heart. That is my absolute priority.”

Achievements

Achievements in the past 12 months listed by the chief constable include the force consistently being in the top five, of 43 forces, on the way 999 calls are dealt with, and answering 97 per cent of 999 calls in under 10 seconds.

The abandonment rate of calls to the 101 non-emergency number reduced to nine per cent, from 45 per cent, with waits down from 14 and a half minutes to 90 seconds while, Hobrough said, the force attends over 80 per cent of emergency, and over 87 per cent of priority calls, within the 15 minute and one hour requirements.

He added: “We’re hitting all our metrics at a really high level, at the same time we’ve invested in a community action team to address the worst areas on anti-social behaviour and crime within the force and to rotate that around,”

He said 22 “back of house staff” had been redeployed to new neighbourhood roles and the force has invested one million in operations targeting the worst affected anti-social behaviour areas while he said it has good feedback, ahead of the formal written responses, in relation to reviews by the inspectorate on how it deals with rape and sexual offences, serious and organised crime and firearms licensing.

Hobrough outlined investigation rates and outcome rates as areas for improvement along with engagement on “what is important” to different sections of the community from young people through to those concerned about retail and rural crime.

He said: “We’re in a good place the investment is to keep us going forward on those good things that we’ve done and now I want to see us doing better.”

After Ms Mudd has presented her response and revised precept to the panel it must also provide respond to her but it cannot veto the commissioner’s precept proposal a second time.

She must respond to the panel’s report by Sunday, March 1 and then a revised precept can be issued.