SURREY police and crime commissioner David Munro’s unprecedented proposal for a ten per cent council tax hike to fund 100 extra officers in Surrey has been give the go-ahead by the county’s Police and Crime Panel.

Monday’s decision means the policing element of a Band D council tax bill will increase by £2 per month – adding to tax hikes by Surrey County Council (2.99 per cent), Waverley Borough Council (2.99 per cent) and Farnham Town Council (2.99 per cent).

In return, the police and crime commissioner and former Farnham councillor has pledged to increase the number of officers and police community support officers in the county by 100 by April 2020.

Surrey Police plan to double the number of officers in the dedicated neighbourhood teams supporting area policing teams across the county while also investing in specialist officers to tackle serious organised crime gangs and drug dealers.

The rise, which will come into effect from April this year, was unanimously approved by the panel during a meeting at County Hall in Kingston-upon-Thames on Monday.

It means the cost for the policing part of the council tax for the financial year 2019/20 has been set at £260.57 for a Band D property.

When combined with other authorities, it leaves the average home-owner in Farnham facing a yearly £1,960.89 council tax bill – up 3.89 per cent from £1,887.52 last year.

In December, the Home Office gave police and crime commissioners across the country the flexibility to increase the amount residents pay in council tax for policing, known as the precept, by a maximum extra £24 per year on a Band D property.

The police and crime commissioner’s office carried out a public consultation throughout January in which approaching 6,000 people answered a survey with their views on the proposed rise. More than 75 per cent of those who responded were in support of the increase with 25 per cent against.

Mr Munro said: “More than three quarters of those who responded agreed with my proposal and this helped inform what was an extremely tough decision which I am pleased has now been approved by the Police and Crime Panel. I believe the government settlement this year provides a real opportunity to help put more officers back into our communities which, from talking to residents across the county, is what I believe the public of Surrey want to see.

“We want to put more officers and police community support officers in local neighbourhoods to prevent crime and provide that visible reassurance that residents rightly value."