LGA chairman, Sir Simon Milton, has criticised the Government's decision to cap Lincolnshire Police Authority's council tax precept. Sir Simon said the decision to re-bill residents, after capping the authority's plans to increase the precept by 78.9%, ‘could end up costing tens of thousands of pounds'. ‘What is needed is better local accountability,' said Sir Simon. Local government minister, John Healey, announced last week, he would cap the authority to a 26% increase, subject to an order laid before Parliament. ‘The Government is sending a clear message to all authorities – if you set an excessive increase in council tax, you can expect tough action from us to protect taxpayers,' said Mr Healey. The chairman of Lincolnshire Police Authority, Cllr Angela Crowe said it was ‘bitterly disappointed' at the Government's decision. ‘We demonstrated that this funding would not only plug a deficit, but also provide additional resources for a service that is severely stretched,' said Cllr Crowe. And chief constable, Richard Crompton, said: ‘The Government's decision means we cannot make the investment into policing in Lincolnshire which we know is necessary to provide acceptable levels of service.' The minister also announced limits to future budgets for Cheshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire police authorities, which had all set inflation-busting increases. Notional budgets have also been proposed for Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Surrey police authorities, as well as Portsmouth City Council, which had faced the threat of capping after setting an increase of 5.04%. Portsmouth chief executive, David Williams, said the decision not to cap the authority was ‘a victory for common sense'. ‘Now this diversion is out of the way, we can re-focus our efforts on delivering high-quality services for residents,' said Mr Williams.
