MP Giles Watling calls for extra 15 police officers in Tendring following rise in council tax

Mr Watling campaigned in the House of Commons on behalf of Essex MPs for additional funding for the police and for the Government to axe its cap on increases to the police’s share of the council tax bill.

The MP wanted the cap to be lifted to pay for more frontline officers due to the “financial challenges” faced by Essex Police.

Previously the maximum the police could increase council tax without triggering a countywide referendum was two per cent.

Following the campaign, Minister of State for Policing Nick Hurd changed the rules to allow council tax contributions for local policing to be increased by £1 a month per household – a total of £12 a year.

The increase will pay for 150 extra police officers in Essex, bringing the total number in the county to more than 3,000.

Mr Watling has now written to Essex Police and Fire Commissioner Roger Hirst calling for more police to be based in Clacton.

He said: “I am pleased that the minister listened to my representations, and those from other local MPs that I enlisted in my campaign, and that he has allowed local councils to raise council tax contributions for local policing.

“It is good news for residents that 150 new police officers are being deployed throughout the county, and I am waiting to hear how these new resources will be delivered in Tendring.

“I look forward to receiving a further update from Essex Police in the weeks ahead.”

Mr Watling said he is now waiting to receive Mr Hirst’s district plan and that he will continue to lobby the commissioner to ensure Clacton receives its “fair share” of the new resources.

He said Mr Hirst assured him that 75 per cent of the additional money will be invested to provide “more local, visible and accessible policing” and that Essex Police are now working through the detail of how the new officers and resources will be recruited, trained and deployed throughout the county.