RESIDENTS will be asked to pay £4.95 more next year for policing.

The 3.25 per cent rise proposed by Police and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst is 5p lower than the maximum before a referendum is needed.

Essex residents will still pay less per head than in any other county, The grant the force receives for policing from the Government is being cut again.

Mr Hirst said: “When commissioners have gone for a referendum it has been 75 per cent no and I don’t want to waste £1million when I know the answer.

“I will try and make the best with the resources I have.

“I am a bit of a financial guru. It is what I do.”

Mr Hirst has been through the policing strategy with Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh.

He wants to use the extra £3.1million raised to cope with the 1.3 per cent Government grant cut, invest more in Specials, a better staffed force control room and to protect frontline policing.

The proposal will be considered by the county's police and crime  panel.

Mr Hirst added: "As I have gone out and met people from across our county I have consistently heard that people want more local, visible and
accessible policing.

"This proposal delivers a range of tangible investments that will help meet these expectations and make it absolutely clear what the
people of Essex will be getting for their money."

Plans are in place to double the size of the Special Constabulary in Essex to 700 by 2019.

It is hoped they will increase the level of visible policing.

The number of police officers and PCSOs in the county have fallen by more than a thousand.

The money will help fund additional firerarm officers, partially reversing a previous cut, provide additional resources for the serious crime directorate and take police numbers from about 2,800 to about 2,850.

Money will also be invested to improve the Force Control Room and the struggling 101 service with 15 extra staff to improve the way the force uses new technology and to combat online and cyber crime.

Mr Hirst said: "Essex Police has been assessed by Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies to be a force which uses money wisely and has strong leadership in place at all levels.

"But the size and make-up of our county mean that Essex Police has more 999 calls and deals with more victim-based crime than average.

"Over the last six years we have had made a number of tough decisions to identify savings of over £74 million and carefully prioritise where we need to invest the resources we have.” 

The Police and Crime Commissioner proposed budget for
2017-2018 is £268.9m funded approximately two thirds by Government grant and one third council tax.