THE Nato Summit in Newport cost Gwent Police £22 million to facilitate, most of which has been recovered from the Home Office.

Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston told a strategy and performance board meeting yesterday that he was “optimistic” that the summit, held in September at the Celtic Manor Resort, will not cost the force anything.

Assistant chief officer of resources Nigel Stephens said: “Nato cost this organisation £22 million of which the Home Office, by and large, has funded.”

He added: “There are one or two final financial arrangements that we’re closing off now.

“Assets that we had to purchase, there’s an opportunity to keep some of those assets at a reduced costs.

“We’re also finalising some of the contractual arrangements with some of the suppliers.”

Mr Johnston added: “We didn’t ask for Nato to come here. We were pleased to do it but it doesn’t seem morally right to me that it should cost us anything. We’re optimistic that it won’t cost us any money to have Nato here.”

The summit in September saw 9,000 police officers from all over the UK come to Newport and Cardiff for the biggest security operation this area has seen.

As well as protecting world leaders like Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, and dignitaries, officers were also involved in policing two protest marches.

The initial budget briefing considered yesterday also detailed the force’s financial position which has seen its central government grant for 2014/15 fall to £74.844 million from £84.684 million in 2010/11.

Between 2010/11 and 2014/15 Gwent Police saw a cash reduction of nearly 19 per cent in its central government funding resulting in 223 fewer police officers since 2010/11, and 169 fewer staff members.

Gwent Police will be finding out the Home Office’s provisional settlement for 2015/16 on December 17.

Its council tax precept will then be announced on January 23, but early indications show that the force is anticipating raising its precept by 3.99 per cent.

The figure will be finalised after a public consultation at the end of the month and discussions are held by the Police and Crime Panel.

Chief constable Jeff Farrar told the meeting the police budget was being “propped up” with £1 million from Gwent Police reserves, which is looking to be £2 million next year. “It’s a huge financial challenge for us,” he added.

Mr Johnston added that a five per cent rise in the council tax precept would be “too big an ask” at this time.

Mr Stephens also detailed a digital strategy for 2014/19, which was approved by the panel.

It sets out a range of technological developments that Gwent Police will be looking into including creating online opportunities for the public to have face to face contact with police officers, reporting incidents and filling in customer satisfaction feedback.

He added the police have been working to create digital case files which could be used in court, as soon as the court service makes the resources available.

Officers will also be able to record their hours online and be briefed digitally while out on shift.