COUNCIL tax looks set to rise in Wirral as the levy is increased to help pay for Merseyside Police services.

The local authority has already indicated a 4% hike after Government tax freeze grants came to an end.

Police commissioner Jane Kennedy's proposals to balance the budget for the year ahead have been approved by the police and crime panel.

The panel unanimously gave the go-ahead to Ms Kennedy’s plans for how she would pay to maintain and protect police services in the face of a £1.35m cut to the force's main grant.

Her proposal included increasing the police precept - collected as part of the council tax - by 1.95% in order to offset a 0.6% cut in Government funding.

Ms Kennedy said: “Asking people to pay more is something I do reluctantly, but through the consultation people demonstrated beyond doubt their support for protecting frontline police services.

"The police and crime panel have also recognised the necessity of this increase and I’m grateful for their support.

“Merseyside Police has lost over 1,600 officers, PCSOs and staff since 2010.

"While fortunately the Government appears to have seen sense and stopped the reckless programme of cuts it has imposed over the last six years, they were only able to claim they were protecting the police budget by assuming local people would pay more.

“This tied my hands. Without local taxpayers agreeing to pay more our police service would have again lost out and we cannot afford to lose any more.

“I thank the public for playing their part in protecting our police service and helping to keep our communities safe.”

Ms Kennedy said £3.4m also will be taken from reserves in order to ensure the budget remains balanced.

Wirral Council leader Cllr Phil Davies said: "This means George Osborne has added a 3.95% increase on Wirral council taxpayers.

"His 2% 'Grey Tax' to cover the cuts in elderly care is now followed by a  1.95% hike to backfill his cuts to Merseyside Police.

“To protect police numbers, the Police and Crime Commissioner is having to use police financial reserves and ask local residents to pay a 1.95% precept - about £2 a year for most Merseyside households - to keep police officers on our streets.

"The commissioner has said she is 'reluctantly' forced into this position.

"We know that tackling crime, keeping our communities safe and clamping down on anti-social behaviour is a top priority for local residents – it’s a shame the Government doesn’t share that opinion and again expect local residents to foot the bill”.

Merseyside fire authority has yet to reveal if it will be asking for an increase to its slice of the council tax pot.

The region’s local authorities will be asked to implement the police rise before setting their budgets for the coming financial year.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story miscalculated the percentage rise for Wirral. The police precept is split across all Merseyside councils so the actual addition to the Wirral levy will be in the region of 0.3%. Apologies for this error.