Local Government Minister John Healey has today confirmed that the Government is going to cap the budget set by Surrey Police Authority this year. The Authority is required to set a lower council tax in 2009-10 and to arrange for Surrey residents to be re-billed. The Authority has branded the decision irrational and unreasonable as it forces us to re-bill every Surrey household – at a cost of £1.2m - to return just six pence per week to the average Band D property. This money would otherwise fund frontline policing.

Over the past year, we have repeatedly asked to meet with Government officials to discuss capping procedures and to understand the rationale behind these decisions so that we might avoid such action. The Government has consistently declined our requests, thus showing a complete lack of transparency and leaving us operating in the dark.

In the current economic climate, to require us to spend £1.2m in order to return £1.6m to the taxpayer is indefensible. It is with great reluctance that we will therefore begin a process of Judicial Review to challenge this decision through the courts. In the meantime, the Chief Constable Mark Rowley is planning for cuts that will inevitably hit the frontline.

We remain resolute in our determination to do everything in our power to protect the high standard of policing that Surrey currently receives, and we will explore every option available to us to do so.