VITAL grants to crime- busting schemes will be cut under a raft of money-saving measures aimed at keeping the cost of policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight down.

An efficiency drive by the constabulary has been ordered in a bid to keep the increase in their annual precept charge to 5.5 per cent.

The charge, set by the police authority, pays for policing throughout the year and is added to the council tax bills from local authorities.

It means residents living in an average band D property will pay £114.30, a rise of £5.94 on last year's figure of £108.36 and equates to an increase of 11p a week.

Last year's bill increased by 9.8 per cent.

At the meeting of the financial affairs panel members were told how the rise had to be kept low as the government had threatened to penalise any authority that increased its precept by much higher than five per cent.

Instead savings had to be made to existing expenditure with anti-crime initiatives bearing the brunt.

The panel heard how the budget that funds schemes like youth groups, support groups and mobile advice services was being cut from £211,000 to £150,000.

Hampshire county councillor Phil Heath, who sits on the authority, said: "These grants are just the sort of thing we need. If we don't provide them I don't see anybody else coming up with anything."

Panel chairman Councillor Adrian Collett, said: "We continue to be as financially efficient as we can in order to make absolutely sure that we are not forced to reduce the number of frontline officers."

A maintenance programme will also be cut by £500,000, while a review of the amount spent on police uniforms and equipment will aim to save about ten per cent, to a figure of £300,000.

Other areas where cash will be saved include reductions in stationary costs, legal fees and costs incurred carrying out consultation exercises.

The panel was also told that the restricted increase had meant the authority had been forced to dip into already dangerously low reserves.

Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan said: "This is about efficiency. For every £1 given we must use it to maximise the service. It is about quality of service. This is about delivering what we can with the constraints we have imposed on us."

Members were also given a bleak outlook for next year's budget estimates of at least a ten per cent increase in the precept to make up for a predicted shortfall of £5m in government grants.

The 5.5 increase will now be put forward to the next full authority meeting for approval.