The Home Office yesterday (Tuesday, 17 December) announced details of the funding settlement that Lincolnshire Police will receive.
A £94.8m Government grant has been allocated to the force, compared to the previous £89.8m. This increase doesn’t address the historic underfunding, meaning our current position and budget gap remains almost the same at £14.1m for the next year.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson said: “We welcome any additional funding that can be allocated to Lincolnshire Police because it shows some acknowledgement of the issues we are facing here but this is a nominal increase when you examine the detail. Unfortunately, the budget allocation this year again doesn’t reflect the real and everyday challenges we encounter in this county to deliver a policing service that keeps communities safe. Essentially, we are left with the same budget gap.
“The current funding model is outdated and has been for years, and until that is addressed and funding is allocated to forces based on their bespoke needs, we cannot hope to ever receive a fair deal. When you look at the bigger picture in that way, it’s clear that this small uplift will not help in the long-term. We do need to transform and modernise our services but cannot do this at the same time as reducing our capacity significantly.
“In recent weeks I have warned about the possibility of cuts to our workforce, which means cuts to the public service that people in Lincolnshire will receive. It’s something I desperately want to avoid but with no financial respite in sight we simply will not be able to meet our budget needs without reducing officers and staff, and therefore our services. We cannot police on a shoestring and people in this county deserve better than that. Our modelling will now begin in earnest to explore how we can make these savings and, sadly, I cannot see a way we can do that without a detrimental impact on our communities, not to mention the people here who could find themselves out of a job.
“I have specifically asked for a meeting with the Policing Minister as a matter of urgency. In coming weeks, we will be sitting down with representatives across the sphere of policing and law enforcement, and I hope for good engagement with them to better lay out the position we are in in Lincolnshire and how our funding situation into the future will impede our ability to evolve and improve.
“What I would like to remind the public of, however, is that we are still here 24/7. We are still responding to people who need us and reaching both those calls for service and those people in good time. We’ll be here over the Christmas and New Year period, as we always are every day of the year, and doing all we can to protect people and keep communities safe. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need us.”
