FAQ - Budget and Council Tax 2026/27

The money comes from two main places:

1. The Government: They give a large amount of money to the police.
2. The People: Families who live in Sussex pay a tax called "Council Tax." A part of this money is given to the police to help them do their job.

When your family gets their Council Tax bill, there is a special slice of that money that goes straight to the police. This slice is called the "precept". It is the local contribution to pay for safety in your neighbourhood.

Yes. For an average family home, the cost will go up by £15 for the whole year. That works out to be a little more than £1 extra every month.

What is the cost of my council tax?

Your council tax bill will include other charges including those for your councils, and in Brighton and East Sussex, Fire and Rescue services. The element for Sussex Police is as set out in the table below.

You may pay less that this if you are a single occupant or receive discounts or exemptions. Your local council can tell you more about this.

Things are getting more expensive, just like prices in shops. The police need this extra money to:

• Keep police officers: We want to make sure we keep all the police officers we have now.
• Answer calls fast: When people call 999 in an emergency, the police want to answer the phone very quickly.
• Solve crimes: Crimes are getting complicated, especially crimes on the internet, so the police need the right tools to solve them.

The money will pay for over 3,300 police officers to work in Sussex. It also pays for police cars, police stations, and the staff who answer the phones when you call for help.

Yes! The Police Commissioner asked lots of people in Sussex what they thought. Most people (54 out of every 100 people asked) said they were happy to pay a little bit more to keep their neighbourhoods safe.

Yes. The police are careful with their money. Even though they are asking for a little more, they are also planning to save nearly £7 million this year by being smarter with how they work.

Even though the police are getting more money from the Government and from Council Tax, everything is getting more expensive. To make sure they don't run out of money, they have a special plan to save £6.8 million.

They plan to do this by:

• Using buildings better: They are looking at all the police stations and offices to see if they can use them better or save money on bills.
• Working smarter: They are finding new ways to organize their work so they can get jobs done faster and better.
• Shopping smarter: They are trying to spend less money on "things" (like equipment and supplies) so they can keep spending money on "people" (the police officers).

This budget helps make sure that when someone needs help, the police can be there. It means there are officers ready to protect you, catch bad people, and help victims.

The Police and Crime Commissioner publishes detail about the budget, precept and longer term financial plans on her website.

The PCC approved the council tax precept and revenue and capital budgets 2026/27 on 9 February 2026. The relevant documents are:

The full decision notice can be read here. 

The full report can be read here. 

Appendix 1 - Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2026/27

Appendix 2 - Precept Consultation Results

Appendix 3 - Engagement Summary Analysis

Appendix 4 - A Day in the Life of Sussex Police Info-graphic

Appendix 5 - Tax base and Levy Schedule 2026/27 

In addition, we have also produced a list of frequently asked questions and an explanatory leaflet (please email pcc@sussex-pcc.gov.uk for a plain text version) to accompany council tax bills can be found from this page https://www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/about/financials/policing-budget/.

Other helpful documents

Further information is available on the Financials page.

We have received some correspondence regarding the precept increases and have provided some responses which may be helpful to Sussex residents below: 

How does Sussex Police deal with a deficit?

The budget for 2026/27 includes a £6.8 million deficit, which the force plans to deal with by delivering an equivalent amount in "cashable efficiency savings". The strategic plans for dealing with the deficit include:

• Workforce and Operational Planning: Implementing well-constructed workforce plans, finding new operating model efficiencies, and cutting non-pay costs.
• The Four Pillars of Efficiency:
1. Transitioning to national procurement frameworks to "buy once and buy well".
2. Using digital transformation, such as AI-assisted redaction and automated Digital Evidence Management Systems, to save officer hours.
3. Managing demand through the "Right Care, Right Person" model to divert health and social care calls to appropriate partners.
4. Integrating with the new National Centre of Policing.
• Estates and Reserves: Rationalising police estates (buildings) to reduce running costs and using one-off financial reserves in a carefully managed way to bridge the gap.

The leaflet states variously that Sussex Police is "the best....." and "one of the best...." - which is it?
 
As of early 2026, Sussex Police is currently performing as the top-ranked force in the UK for 999 call handling. Recent national data shows a significant turnaround for the force, which has consistently outperformed all other services in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland over the last several months.
 
Key Performance Feb 2026

 
Why the High Performance?
 
The force has moved from being a "fair" performer a few years ago to leading the national table. This shift is largely attributed to:

• New Contact Technology: In late 2023 and throughout 2024, the force implemented new routing software in the Lewes control room. This system directs calls to the first available handler automatically, removing the need for manual pick-up.
• Advanced Data Analytics: They now use real-time demand modelling to adjust staffing levels dynamically, ensuring more handlers are available during peak "summer surge" months.
• "Omni-competent" Staffing: Many of the ~600 staff members are now trained to handle both initial contact and dispatch (control), allowing for more flexible resource management during high-pressure shifts.

Why use "yet" and "despite" regarding solving more crime when recorded crime is up? (in the precept leaflet)
 
Words like "yet" and "despite" are used because investigating crimes has become significantly more complex and time-consuming, not just higher in volume. A raw increase in crime numbers doesn't just mean more work; it means heavier, more difficult workloads per officer. We highlight several reasons for this:

• Time at Scene: The average time an officer spends at an incident has risen by 36% (from 36 minutes in 2016 to 49 minutes in 2025).
• Digital Evidence: A massive growth in digitally enabled offending means cases routinely involve complex virtual activity (like social media data and indecent imagery) requiring specialist forensic skills.
• Legal Standards: Higher standards required by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) mean significantly more work is required to build every individual case file.

Therefore, solving more crimes is presented as an achievement despite the fact that each individual crime now demands substantially more time, resources, and specialist capabilities to investigate.

Please tell me about the evolution in Sussex Police total headcount from 2020-25?
 
The following milestones in the evolution of the Sussex police officer headcount are:

• The police establishment in March 2012 was 2,959 officers.
• Through the government's "Operation Uplift" programme, and the Police and Crime Commissioners local precept investments, Sussex Police reached a headcount of 3,205 by 31st March 2023.
• The force subsequently agreed to an "Additional Uplift" to recruit another 60 officers across two years (up to the 2024/2025 financial year), raising their official maintenance baseline target to 3,226 officers. Sussex Police achieved this target in September 2025.
• As of 2nd February 2026, there were 3,233 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers working within the force.
• The force predicts it will reach a total headcount of 3,342 officers by 31st March 2026.

 
May I know what the backlog of unsolved crimes was at end-2024 and end-2025?
 
The figures in the leaflet are averages over a year and the number of cases varies day by day. As of yesterday (18th March) there were circa 22,000 crimes shown as “under investigation” in our systems. For reference, there are between 10-12k crimes recorded per month, which reflects a healthy workload of new crimes recorded vs closed cases.
 
If you would like to view published information you can look at the Open Data tables here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-tables and this is the best sheet to use to look at outcome of crimes Outcomes open data, year ending March 2026 and the previous version of the sheet published for earlier date periods are available on the former page. I would suggest that you use the volumes in Column M for the ‘Outcomes for investigations closed in the quarter’ as this shows the outcome based on the date the outcomes was added, whereas column L shows outcomes for crimes recorded in the quarter and it isn’t so easy to combine with the earlier datasets due to so many not having an outcome at the time the file is generated.

For 2025/26, Sussex had the 15th lowest total funding per head nationally at £243.69 (which includes core grants and the precept) and the 16th lowest Net Revenue Expenditure per head at £214.57.
 
When we mention receiving "less funding," it refers to a specific structural change: the government rolled several specific grants into an outdated core funding formula, creating a "cliff edge" where funding no longer tracks headcount growth. As a result, the 2026/27 provisional police funding settlement is actually £5.3 million less than Sussex Police expected based on previous planning assumptions.
 

Who sets the maximum precept increase?
 
The maximum limit is set by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The government issues principles that define what is considered an "excessive" Council Tax increase, and any Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) wanting to raise the precept above this limit must either hold a binding public referendum, or as was first introduced for 2026/27, submit a business case to increase the council tax via the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
 
Is it set as a percentage, an amount per taxpayer or a total sum? It is set as a specific monetary amount per taxpayer based on their property valuation band.
 
For 2026/27, the government set the maximum allowed increase without a referendum at £15 for a Band D property. The exact amount varies proportionally for other bands (e.g., Band A is £10.00, Band H is £30.00).

 
What specific damage does the settlement threaten to do?
 
The specific threat is that the inadequate central grant settlement creates a £6.8 million deficit for the upcoming year, even after maximizing the £15 precept increase and using financial reserves. To balance the budget, we must deliver £6.8 million in significant, cashable efficiency savings. The Chief Finance Officer notes there is a "distinct risk" associated with delivering these savings. If these savings cannot be safely managed, it threatens to undo the progress made since 2018 in rebuilding neighbourhood policing and increasing frontline officer numbers, potentially leading to a decline in public service.
 

References in the table are to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 unless otherwise stated.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evidence-to-the-ssrb-2025-to-2026-police-and-crime-commissioners/home-office-evidence-to-the-senior-salaries-review-body-police-and-crime-commissioners-accessible#:~:text=38.,pay%20awards%20between%20formal%20reviews

Strategic planning

Holding to account

Hold the chief constable to account for:

Partnership working

People

Information and engagement

Finance

If you like detail, then head over to our page here https://www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/about/financials/expenditure-over-500/ where we publish certain payments over £500. We exclude items of a confidential nature related to individuals (pay) or certain police operations.

Once a year we also open our accounts for public inspection. When this opportunity is available it will be published on the website here https://www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/about/financials/accounts/