THE tax burden on people living in County Durham and Darlington could increase for the second year running to fund contributions to police pensions.

Front-line services could also be affected due to a deficit of £417m identified in the National Police Pension Scheme of which £165m is to be met from police budgets from 2019-20 through an increase in the employers’ contribution.

This would cost Durham Police a further £1.65m from next year - the equivalent of 30 police officers and a figure which could rise to meet the full cost in future years.

Durham and Darlington Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg condemned the hike as a "disgrace" as he would have to raise the precept again by £12 per annum on a Band D home and then be forced to cut officer and staff numbers to pay the bill.

Mr Hogg told The Northern Echo he wanted to express his "total outrage" to residents in the force area, adding: "It's important that our communities know this is the problem and I'm vehemently opposed to it and that I'm hoping to get the best for them."

The police commissioner briefed MPs covering the County Durham and Darlington areas about the impact on the force.

He said the Durham Police area faced even greater challenges than other forces due to 55 per cent of properties being Band A.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson this week raised the matter in an Urgent Question in the House of Commons where he told Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service, Nick Hurd MP, that Durham Police had already lost 400 officers since 2010.

"This increase will be viewed as a local tax raised for the Treasury," he said. "The problem arises because the Treasury will not provide additional funding to offset the deficit, so the money will need to come from existing police budgets. This will have knock-on effects for front-line services.”

Mr Hurd praised Durham Police as an "outstanding force against the context of reduced resources" and said he understood Mr Wilson's concerns.

He added he was "working through the issue" and would return to the House of Commons in early December with what he hoped would be a solution.

A letter has also been sent by chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Mark Burns-Williamson, on behalf of commissioners, calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP, to mitigate the impact through additional Treasury funding and ensure a "precept freedom" which allows forces to increase local policing.

He said: "Unlike the NHS (which is also an unfunded pension scheme) the police cannot by law set an unbalanced budget and therefore cannot be in deficit, so will have to meet the full cost of the change from their in-year cash budget."

Mr Hogg added Durham Police had made provisions of £820,000 since a warning of changes to police pensions in 2016.