Police and fire precept on your 2026/27 council tax bill

How the police precept appears on the bill

Open an English council tax bill outside London for 2026/27 and you will find a line labelled police and crime commissioner or PCC precept, with the annual amount and the change from last year. MHCLG puts the average police precept in England at £297 on Band D for 2026/27, up 5.5 per cent on 2025/26. That average excludes London's policing element, which is part of the GLA precept.

The police and crime commissioner is an elected office created by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. In Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire the mayor holds the commissioner's powers, and the police precept is part of the combined authority line on the bill. The precept is the part of the policing budget that comes from council tax rather than central government grant.

The 2026/27 police precept limit

For 2026/27 most police and crime commissioners could raise their Band D precept by up to £15 without a referendum. Six (Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Durham, Gloucestershire, Humberside and Northumbria) could raise it by up to £18.50. MHCLG counts 30 of the 37 commissioners as taking the maximum increase. Because precepts start from different bases, a £15 rise ranged from 4.44 per cent in Surrey to 6.54 per cent in the West Midlands.

The police limit sits alongside the council's own limits. On a typical 2026/27 bill for an upper-tier council, three limits apply together: 2.99 per cent on core council tax, 2 per cent on the adult social care precept, and the £15 police limit. Where a separate fire authority exists, its £5 limit applies too.

The fire precept across England

Fire services in England are funded in one of two ways. Where there is a standalone fire and rescue authority (for example Merseyside, West Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, or Hampshire and Isle of Wight), it sets its own precept on the bill. In Essex, Staffordshire, Northamptonshire and Cumbria the police, fire and crime commissioner sets the fire precept. Elsewhere, fire is funded through the county or unitary council, and there is no separate fire line.

For 2026/27 fire and rescue authorities could raise their Band D precept by up to £5 without a referendum (Northamptonshire up to £10). The average Band D precept of the standalone fire authorities was £98, up 5.5 per cent. It ranged from £85.19 in the West Midlands to £128.12 in Durham and Darlington. MHCLG counts 23 of the 29 fire authorities as taking the maximum increase.

Police precept by force area, 2026/27

The Band D police precept varies widely across England. The highest in 2026/27 was Surrey at £352.57. The lowest was Northumbria at £214.34, which also had the largest percentage rise (9.45 per cent) because it was one of the six forces allowed £18.50 on a low base. Your own figure is printed on your bill and in your council's council tax leaflet. MHCLG publishes every force's figure in Table 8d of its annual council tax statistics.

How the precepts scale across the bands

Precepts are set as Band D figures, and every other band pays a fixed fraction of Band D: six-ninths for Band A, rising to eighteen-ninths (double) for Band H. On the England average police precept of £297, that is about £198 on Band A and £594 on Band H. The fire precept, where it appears separately, scales the same way.

Why London has no separate police or fire precept

London council tax bills do not include separate police or fire lines because both services are funded through the Greater London Authority precept. The GLA precept, set by the Mayor of London and approved by the London Assembly, covers the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade, transport services and the GLA itself. The City of London is the exception: it has its own police force, and City taxpayers pay only the non-police part of the GLA precept.

Interaction with discounts and exemptions

Every council tax discount applies to the whole bill, including the police and fire precepts. A 25 per cent single occupant discount takes a quarter off each line, so on the England average police precept of £297 it saves about £74. Council tax reduction, the disabled band reduction and the severe mental impairment disregard work the same way.

There is no separate exemption or appeal route for the police or fire precepts. If you disagree with the level, the routes are the precept consultation, the police and crime panel, and elections.

Sources: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Tables 2, 4, 8d and 8e); and the Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2026-27.

For more on bill components

The police and fire precepts are two of several lines on a typical English council tax bill outside London. The others are the council itself, the adult social care precept (for upper-tier councils), and any parish or town precept. In London the structure is consolidated under the Greater London Authority precept. For the full picture of what the council itself spends on, see what council tax pays for, and for this year's limits see council tax changes for 2026/27.