Lincolnshire Police has been offered a funding package that will allow the Force to avoid widespread staff and officer reductions and to provide a level of policing that will keep the county safe.
Now, after many months of intense and increasingly positive talks with the Home Office, Lincolnshire Police has been allocated £100.1m for 2026/27 as part of this year’s police funding settlement – an increase from £95.6m allocated last year and, crucially, it has also been given exceptional financial support of an additional £12m per annum. This is confirmed for 2026/27 and provisionally for the following two years, in recognition of the uniquely challenging circumstances our Force faces.
This means that the warning issued this time last year – that without improved funding the Chief Constable would have to make widespread and disabling cuts across the organisation that would result in up to 400 job losses – can be stood down and, instead, the organisation can comfortably recruit back to strength and invest in other areas of safety-critical functions.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson said: “This is a very good day for Lincolnshire Police and Lincolnshire communities. To have this level of funding for this amount of time is unprecedented for the Force and will allow us to build back to peak numbers, and means we will be to properly strategically plan for the future.
“Securing additional funding has been a joint endeavour between myself and PCC Marc Jones, and of course many colleagues across the Force, and I know I speak for us all when I say that I am very pleased that we have been allocated this improved funding. It provides us with stability and optimism and recognises the unique and challenging nature of policing in Lincolnshire.
“We have been engaged in a collegiate and constructive working relationship with Home Office officials over the course of last year that allowed us to establish and demonstrate the evidence base that has led us there, and we are grateful for that. Three years of stability for the Force is welcome news and a welcome relief – for our own staff who are dedicated to serving communities in this county, not to mention the further job security now on offer, and also good news for the people we serve who can now be more certain that Lincolnshire Police will be there for them if they need it.
“We must remember that we also rely on our council tax precept to fund the remainder of the budget, and that will be proposed and presented to the Police and Crime Panel by the PCC in early February 2026 to seek their support.
“I must also offer the slight caveat that these financial arrangements allow us to build back to numbers of police officers and staff that we know are more effective in keeping communities safe, but we still remain underfunded when compared to many forces and we will still face a budget gap in year four when this package of measures runs out. We acknowledge that the baseline funding allocated to this Force simply is not adequate, and the PCC and I will continue lobbying for improved funding for Lincolnshire in coming years.
“But this is a good day for Lincolnshire Police. We will invest in recruiting more people and can now plan more strategically for the next few years, and look at how we continue to improve policing in Lincolnshire.
“I remain incredibly proud to be Chief Constable of this Force. I have always said that the best thing about Lincolnshire Police is its people, and this last year has highlighted that more than ever. They have faced extraordinary pressure over these last 12 months and have continued to work hard every day to deliver the best possible standard of policing.
“I look forward to continuing working with my colleagues and to work more with our communities as we deliver an improved, forward-looking, and more secure Lincolnshire Police.”
PCC Marc Jones said: “Today marks a real milestone for Lincolnshire. Not only will the money make a difference to front line services it is a recognition that the funding formula has penalised our county unfairly.
“I want to thank the Government for listening, thank all our partners and local MPs for their unwavering support and to the staff and officers of Lincolnshire Police for remaining committed in the face of so many problems.
“It will take some time for the force to recruit back up to the levels of officers needed to provide the level of service our residents deserve so there is a need for some patience.
“In addition there is still work to do to secure the financial future of Lincolnshire Police beyond the medium term but this is a positive and significant step forward.”
