Police chief warns of cuts as funding 'untenable'

A chief constable has warned of a reduction in officer numbers and staffing because his force's funding position had become "untenable".

Lincolnshire Police's Paul Gibson and the county's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Marc Jones said they had jointly written to the Home Office, the College of Policing and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for help as the force grapples with a £57m deficit over the next four years.

An HMICFRS spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we received this letter.

"We are continually monitoring the force as part of our ongoing assessment process and a full inspection report will follow in due course."

Mr Gibson has not detailed the level of cuts to his workforce but said the service would deteriorate if the force continued to be underfunded.

Mr Gibson and Mr Jones said their letter detailed Lincolnshire Police’s current funding position and asked for "systemic assistance in addressing the imbalanced funding formula for policing in the county".

The PCC has repeatedly claimed Lincolnshire Police is the worst funded in England and Wales and the force said it had tried resolving the issue over many years, but despite the low spend it was providing "value for money".

Mr Gibson told the BBC current funding was not enough and would mean a "significant deterioration of service".

"I think in terms of the size of the cuts that would be required, we'd have to look very, very carefully but we would have to reduce officer numbers and also staff numbers," Mr Gibson said.

"By how many and how quickly is something we're carefully modelling. At the moment, we've been funding our organisation by reserves, so with our savings account.

"What we've asked for from the government is a £10m reoccurring uplift."

Mr Jones said they were facing an unprecedented financial challenge that had been exacerbated by changes in National Insurance and pay awards, and said police funding needed "a radical approach".

Mr Gibson added: “We have been stating our case for some time in relation to our untenable funding position.

"Both the PCC and I feel that the time has come to increase the momentum and ask the major stakeholders and decision-makers in policing to come to the table and work with us to afford Lincolnshire Police a level of resourcing that is fair and allows us to deliver an effective service to our communities."

The force said its medium-term financial plan has a deficit of £57m over the four-year period from 2024-25, against the annual budget of £168m and was looking at a savings plan to address the shortfall.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.