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Council Tax

Each year your council tax bill tells you what you pay for your local council’s services, as well as what you contribute to other important Greater Manchester-wide public services, such as the Police and Fire and Rescue Service.

These Greater Manchester contributions are called “precepts” and always appear on your bill. The Mayor of Greater Manchester is responsible for setting these precepts.

On the bill there will be two sections which refer to Mayoral precepts. One is for the policing precept, which used to be the responsibility of the Police and Crime Commissioner, in whose name this used to appear on your bill. On your bill, this will be called the "Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept". 

Greater Manchester Police Funding Consultation 2025/2026

It is our priority to keep the people of Greater Manchester safe and in times of financial challenges with the cost of living and providing essential services the police are no different.

Funding for the police comes both directly from a central government grant (75%) and from the police precept (25%). The police precept we set, which funds Greater Manchester Police (GMP), is one of the lowest in the country.

The police funding consultation for 2025/2026 is now live: Consultation (external website) We would like to hear from you as local taxpayers. The consultation will close on Friday 17 January 2025.

To maintain the investment required for policing we would need to increase the police precept by £10.88 per year (91 pence a month) for a B property. This is a smaller increase than the increase in the precept last year.

With the help of what we raised through the precept last year, GMP remain one of the most improved police forces in the country. In 2024 GMP were recognised as world leaders in tackling stubborn crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), winning the international Goldstein Award for their problem-solving Operation Vulcan in Cheetham Hill. 

Through the modest increase in the police precept last year, the funding has allowed us to keep our promises to:

  • Remain one of the best police forces in the country in the speed of answering 999 calls. In the past year the average time to answer a 999 call was 3 seconds, significantly better than the national average of 10 seconds.
  • Improve 101 answering times. GMP answered non-emergency calls in an average of 54 seconds, compared to 1 minute and 9 seconds last year.
  • Improve response times for emergency and non-emergency incidents. On average GMP responded to emergency incidents in 9 minutes and 44 seconds – faster than the 15-minute target time which is an improvement on last year by 3%. Non-emergency attendance times have improved to 66% within the hour target for attendance – up from 59% last year.
  • Retain investment in neighbourhood policing and crime prevention teams and reduce neighbourhood crimes. All districts have in place Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Prevention Hubs and Neighbourhood Crime Prevention Teams focussed on tackling crime and ASB. As a result, crime has reduced. This is most marked in neighbourhood crimes (personal robbery, domestic burglary, theft of vehicles and of the person) which reduced by 17.2% this year. GMP are also solving more crimes. Overall, the proportion of all crime outcomes that were solved increased to 12.5% (up 2.5% points on last year).
  • Invest a further 30 police officers into Operation Vulcan which has now expanded beyond Cheetham Hill to Piccadilly Gardens and to Victoria and Piccadilly train stations. Crime has reduced significantly in these areas as a result with theft from persons reducing by 35% and stalking and harassment by 56%.
  • Focus on increasing arrests for sex offenders and ensuring justice for vulnerable victims. In the past year GMP continues to improve outcomes for victims of child sexual exploitation with outcomes up from 21.2% last year to 24.3% this year. GMP are also solving more rape crimes up 3% on last year.

Your money really does make a difference. This year, we propose increasing the police precept by £10.88 per year (91 pence a month) for a Band B property (80% of households in Greater Manchester are in Bands A-C). For a Band D property, the increase would be by £14 per year (or £1.17 a month).

If we do not include a rise from the police precept, then we will have to look at other ways to close the gap in funding and this could mean cuts to the service that you receive.

With your support a £10.88 increase for a Band B property (or £14 for a Band D property) would provide additional funding to enable GMP to deliver on the commitments that people told us were important in our new Standing Together: Police and Crime Plan. Over the next 12 months we will:

  • Remain one of the best police forces in the country in the speed of answering 999 calls.
  • Further improve 101 answering times.
  • Further improve GMP response times with a focus on improving non-emergency times.
  • Further reduce and prevent neighbourhood crimes, ASB and retail crime by investment in our prevention and neighbourhood policing teams.
  • Improve road and transport safety by continuing with Operation Vulcan in Piccadilly and Victoria and expanding this out to key hot spot areas across the city region.
  • Implement a Live Chat system on the Bee Network to increase reporting and safety on public transport.
  • Divert more children and young away from crime by investing in liaison and diversion and preventative services.
  • Bring more sex offenders to justice by investment in our sex offender management activity.
  • Increase trust and confidence by investing in our Professional Standards Department.

Together and with your help, we aim to continue GMP’s positive journey and deliver to you the most effective police service in the UK.

2024/2025

For 2024/25 the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner precept is £256.30 per year (for a Band D property) an increase of £13 (5.3%) per year.

The increase in precept funding is critical to sustain the significant improvements made in GMP to continue to strengthen public safety and together with the central Government grant will deliver:

  • Remain one of the best police forces in the country in answering 999 and 101 calls.
  • Further improve response times for emergency and non-emergency incidents.
  • Retain investment in neighbourhood policing and crime prevention teams to further reduce neighbourhood crimes.
  • Invest a further 30 police officers into front line policing roles in 2024/25.
  • Increase policing of the transport network through the launch of Operation Vulcan Network with increased policing presence in and around Piccadilly and Victoria stations.
  • Invest in locking up more criminals and providing swifter and better services for victims and witnesses through investment in investigations and criminal justice units.
  • Invest in prosecuting offenders with a focus on increasing arrests for sex offenders and ensuring justice for vulnerable victims.

The other is called the "Mayoral General Precept". The vast majority of this comprises the costs of the Fire Service, with a small amount going to pay for other Mayoral functions. 

For 2024/25 the Mayoral General precept (including Fire Services) is £112.95 per year (for a Band D property) an increase of £5 (4.6%) per year, or £75.30 (for a Band A property) an increase of £3.33.  Of the £112.95 for a Band D property £81.20 relates to Fire and Rescue Services and £31.75 relates to Mayoral General functions.  

The precept increase of £5 is for the GM Fire and Rescue Service and is required to ensure, given the significant increase in inflationary pressures on both pay and non-pay budgets, there is no adverse impact on frontline fire cover.  In addition to funding the unavoidable impact of inflationary cost pressures, the increase will also allow additional investment in the service including an additional fire engine for GM and further investment in protection and prevention work.  Together with the changes introduced through the 2023 Fire Cover Review (FCR) these changes will increase the number of fire engines across GM from 50 to 52 and allow significant investment in prevention and protection.

 The Mayoral General precept has been frozen for 2024/25 and the existing precept will continue to support:  

  • The ‘A Bed Every Night’ emergency response scheme to reduce rough sleeping in Greater Manchester and continue to support local schemes and homelessness partnerships to end rough sleeping. This scheme is supplemented by financial support from the Greater Manchester Integrated Health and Care Partnership, Probation Service and other partners across Greater Manchester.
  • The ‘Our Pass’ scheme for a further 12 months from September 2024, providing free bus travel within Greater Manchester for 16-18 year olds.
  • Care Leavers concessionary pass providing free bus travel in Greater Manchester for young people 18-21 years old who have been in care.
  • Bus Reform implementation as a key step toward development of The Bee Network - an integrated ‘London-style’ transport system which will join together buses, trams, cycling and walking and other shared mobility services. The Mayoral precept and Earnback grant funding will fund the procurement and implementation of local bus service contracts (bus franchising) in three ‘Tranches’. Tranche 1 commence operation in September 2023 covering Wigan, Bolton and parts of Salford and Bury, extending to the whole city region in Tranche 3 by January 2025.
  • Equality panels facilitated by appropriate voluntary organisations, enabling investment in organisations which work in partnership with public services and the wider community, contributing to tackling the inequalities agenda.

GMCA 2024/25 budget information papers and livestream (external website)

Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept

Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services)

Transport

We’ve also given details of the costs of transport in Greater Manchester. This doesn’t appear on your bill as it is mostly funded through a levy contribution from the local districts, with a smaller proportion coming from the Mayoral precept.

Transport information

Waste Levy

Municipal waste disposal is funded through a levy on nine of the Greater Manchester district councils, while Wigan operates as a unitary authority and administers its own disposal arrangements. The levy funds the operation of a network of waste management facilities. This doesn’t appear on your council tax bill.

Waste levy

All of these issues have been considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and a number of reports have been published:

Reports

The report links all take you to our external website meetings, agenda and minutes.