Section 26: Precepts
123.Section 26 confers on police and crime commissioners the power, previously exercised by police authorities, to issue a precept, thus allowing council tax to be levied in order to fund the police.
124.Subsection (3) disapplies local government legislation which would otherwise impose a duty on police and crime commissioners to consult ratepayers before issuing a precept. The same requirement is instead incorporated in section 14 (arrangements to obtain the views of the public on policing), so that there is a single, consolidated provision in relation to the duties of police and crime commissioners to consult the public.
125.Subsection (4) introduces Schedule 5, which sets out the powers of a police and crime panel to scrutinise a proposed precept, and the procedure to be followed by the police and crime commissioner and the panel in that regard.