Essex council taxpayers could be made to stump up the cash for a new Airwave system to be used by the county's police force.
The threat has been made by the Essex Police Authority following the recent announcement by the Home Office, which showed the grant to fund policing in Essex for the year 2004-5, was £759,000 short.
In addition to its annual grant of £160.9million, Essex Police was expecting a £759,000 contribution towards the Airwave project, a new radio system police forces are introducing to improve the quality of radio communications across the country.
Chairman of Essex Police Authority, Robert Chambers, said that due to the Home Office changing the rules, this money would now have to be found from the general grant.
He said that the headline grant increase of 3.3 per cent, actually amounted to just 2.8 per cent, taking into account the funding of the Airwave project.
Mr Chambers added that the Home Office was now being urged to correct the situation and come up with the £0.75million Airwave grant, and if it did not, the police authority would have to find it by making cuts elsewhere in its budget or asking Essex council taxpayers to make up the shortfall.
"This is grossly unfair," he said. "The Home Office has admitted this is a mistake and should put this right by giving us what is rightly ours."
Published Wednesday December 17, 2003
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