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Local taxpayers should not foot a 6.99% higher bill to fund Gwent Police next year, the region’s police and crime panel has concluded.

Members of the cross-party group from four of Gwent’s five local authorities voted 8-2 to veto the proposal, telling police bosses the increase was too high.

Critics asked why a forecasted budget surplus of around £5 million was not being used to “offset” any proposed rise in the police precept, and questioned the level of “uncertainty” in the budget proposals.

Police and crime commissioner Jane Mudd had earlier told the committee people wanted to see greater “visibility” from police, and the precept would help fund that.

Police forces receive most of their funding via the UK Government, but a portion of their budget comes directly from local taxpayers at rates set by their force’s commissioner or, in some areas of England, their directly-elected mayor.

The precept is added to council tax bills but is not set by a local authority.

In Gwent, the proposed 6.99% increase would reportedly equate to an extra £26.37 per year for people living in a typical Band D property.

Speaking in support of her budget proposals, the commissioner – who is also a Newport city councillor – highlighted the force’s work and said the “overwhelming priority” for residents “is around visibility – we know visibility improves trust and confidence”.

“None of this support for communities would be possible without us being able to secure this precept,” she told the panel.

Chief constable Mark Hobrough agreed, telling the meeting that “what we’ve achieved in the last year and what we want to achieve in the next year wouldn’t be possible without the support you provide us”.

Cllr Tony Kear, from Monmouthshire, asked why residents were being asked to “dip into their pocket” when a report forecast a budget surplus of more than £5 million this year.

But the commissioner’s head of finance, Darren Garwood-Pask, said using surplus from one-off income to cover recurring spending would be a “sticking plaster” approach.

“I’d be coming back next year to say we’ve used the one-off money, we’ve got to make that good,” he warned.

A report also showed the commissioner’s office would need to use around £5.3 million of reserves to balance the books this year.

Cllr Colin Mann, from Caerphilly, said he was concerned about the affordability of bills, and even a small weekly increase for residents could be the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

“I don’t want to ask people for any more than we have to, and at the moment I’m not convinced that we need to ask people for as much as we are,” he told the meeting.

Cllr Mann also noted that a minority (44%) of people surveyed agreed to support a hypothetical proposal to increase the police precept by “£2.75 a month” on Band D properties.

The commissioner said the current proposed increase was for a lower amount, and financial support is available for people struggling with bills.

Her head of communications, Rhodri Guest, added people “want more” from policing and “the vast majority are supportive of those proposals”.

But following deliberations, panel chair Gill Howells said members remained concerned about the level of support for the rise.

She said the panel thought the £5 million surplus “should have been reflected as good news” and “it was felt some of that should have been offset against this year’s budget”.

“We recognise there does need to be an increase,” she added. “Should it be 6.99%? We don’t feel that is the case.”

The panel’s decision sends the commissioner’s office back to the drawing board to devise a new budget proposal for the coming financial year.