North Yorkshire Police authority views council tax freeze

The head of North Yorkshire Police Authority said she believed savings could be made if council tax was frozen across the county.

Jane Kenyon said careful planning would stand the authority in good stead as it works to save £28m over four years.

Ms Kenyon said the authority would meet on Monday to decide whether it would accept a government grant instead of raising the council tax precept.

In December it emerged that 323 civilian and 65 officer posts had gone.

Now Ms Kenyon says the authority has a "robust strategy" in place to deal with the difficult economic circumstances.

She said: "I believe we can [make the savings] we have a well-rehearsed and well-documented strategy over the next five years.

Lack of control

"We are placed not in a luxurious place financially, but because of the prudence and careful financial planning that we've done over the last few years we are in a position where we can identify that money and reflect a zero tax [increase]."

On Friday it emerged that a former senior police officer had billed the police authority for thousands of pounds for personal training despite getting an allowance for it, a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

Former Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Adam Briggs was given a total of £31,647.06 over three years to pay for development and medical cover.

The IPCC said the authority's lack of control was "unacceptable".

North Yorkshire Police Authority said it had acted responsibly.