POLICE in South Yorkshire will be asked to show the public where their extra money is being spent if the force follows Home Office expectations and imposes an inflation-busting increase on the amount householders are ordered to contribute next year.

Most police income in the past has come from government grants but increasingly in recent years the Home Office has allowed Police and Crime Commissioners to take more cash from residents as part of their annual council tax bill, effectively shifting the burden paying police onto the shoulders of communities.

Last year, PCCs were given the option to increase charges by £12 a year for homes in council tax band D, with corresponding increases for other bands but this year that has been doubled to £24.

Consultations in South Yorkshire are still going on, but the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, said early indications suggested South Yorkshire residents were struggling to keep pace with rising costs, as a poor area, but were willing to pay more provided they could see the benefits.

That creates a problem for police because as government support shrinks, the extra cash raised locally can be swallowed up coping with those cuts and the effects of inflation.

But to counter that effect, Dr Billings has asked Chief Constable Stephen Watson and his team to find ways to highlight the way South Yorkshire Police are providing improved public services.

Dr Billings said: “The danger is that the government are asking us more and more to raise money locally and a lot of the money raised is now just keeping what we have got, and wage and price inflation.

“The extra money keeps getting soaked up by inflation.

“I have been talking to the chief about how he can visibly show the differences our payments make and that more is being done.

“One obvious area is to be able to show more police officers not PCSOs are in neighbourhoods. That will come as welcome news to the leaders of the district councils. They are very aware of how much people are having to pay,” he said.

Council leaders had also been indicating they wanted to do something new for increased charges, such as an increased town centre policing presence.

“I think where police are taking the initiative, like the new work around burglary in Sheffield, they have to work hard to tell the public that is what they are doing, so people know,” he said.