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Jane Mudd is the police and crime commissioner for Gwent. She represents Labour.

I would like to start my first column of 2025 by wishing all residents of Caerphilly County Borough a happy and healthy new year.

Gwent Police officers and staff were on duty across the Christmas break to keep our communities safe and had to work around the clock to respond to several incidents of bad weather, as well as the usual challenges that the Christmas holidays bring.

I would like to thank officers and staff for all they did during this time, and also thank their families who must sacrifice some of the quality time that many of us take for granted at this time of year.

As we begin 2025, I am busy working towards two significant decisions which will shape how my office and Gwent Police work over the next year. This month I must decide the level at which I set the policing precept, which is the money paid through local council tax that goes to Gwent Police. 

This is a difficult decision to make, however, the reality is that without a rise in the council tax precept, significant savings are going to have to be made.

I must also finalise and publish my Police and Crime Plan, which will set out my priorities for the rest of my term in office. These are both big decisions and will be informed by the significant public engagement we have carried out across Gwent through 2024. Thank you to everyone in the Caerphilly borough who has taken part in this process.

I have big plans for 2025. These include reviewing the Gwent Police estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and enables police officers to deliver for our communities, and improving the way we do our scrutiny – making it more transparent and creating opportunities for you to feed into this process.

I will also be starting the work required to deliver on the priorities that I will set out in my Police and Crime Plan. This is being finalised and will be published by the end of March. Again, I would like to thank all of you who have fed into this process, and can assure you that all your feedback has been read and considered.

Please consider following my office on social media, or signing up to our e-bulletin to stay up to date with these developments and more.

It will be a busy year ahead and I look forward to working with the new chief constable of Gwent Police, Mark Hobrough, our partners, and with you, our residents, to make a real difference to all of our communities and build a safer Gwent for all.