Setting the budget for policing and community safety is a top priority

Some of the money comes from Government and some of it comes from a specific part of the council tax.

The Government's funding for policing and community safety is reducing by £5.6 million for Staffordshire. That's difficult, and even more so as £1.7 million of it was unexpected and last minute.

But we are where we are as a country and Staffordshire must play its part in helping. The advice I got was to increase council tax as much as possible but it's wrong, in my view, to pour more tax money into services if what's already used isn't spent as well as it could be.

It's all too easy to hit council tax payers yet again rather than working more efficiently. Value for money in policing and community safety in Staffordshire is getting better. The small team of experts I've brought together to replace the old Police Authority has helped secure decent efficiency savings. But we're not there yet so I'm sticking to my mantra that local tax payers are the last resort, not the first!

More efficient use of money also means I've asked the Chief Constable to scrap existing plans to cut numbers in Neighbourhood Policing. Very local community policing provides uniformed visibility and makes people feel safer. There's also new blood with police officer recruitment restarted and a new generation of crime fighters learning their trade.

In fact, the first decision as PCC I made a year ago was to scrap compulsory retirement of police officers after 30 years' service and offer the chance to the Chief Constable to recruit again for the first time in years. He didn't need asking twice!

Possibly the biggest benefit in the next few years to getting more police time out and about in communities will be investment in new mobile technology. I'm a believer in technology and it will mean less time stuck in police stations and more time in public. Better processes, more efficient technology and scrapping all police targets in Staffordshire will see at least 3,000 extra hours each week of visible policing.

It's also time to trust local people to know what will help make their area safer. In 2014 twice as much funding as ever before, £2.5 million, will go from the PCC budget to local areas for community safety projects. It's not just councils that will get the money; communities can too.

If you're part of a group that's making a difference in your local area you can now apply for a grant of up to £3,000 to make your community safer.

My new Commissioner's People Power Fund launches soon. Find out more at http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/fund/

So what about making sure I do my job properly? Well, there's the media and 'Court of public opinion'. I've met thousands of people at community meetings and there's a statutory committee of councillors and public who question me regularly on what I'm doing and why; a bit like a Select Committee of Parliament. We're going to webcast more meetings in future and you can 'Watch Again' the recent one where I'm questioned on many aspects of policing and wider at http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/webcast/

You can find out what's going on in policing and criminal justice, get local news and hear about ways you can get involved as a volunteer or even playing a part in deciding local priorities by asking for email updates. Find out more www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.yj/email