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Lincolnshire Police 'will have to make cuts' if extra funding is not provided next year




The first ever Force Management Statement (FMS) made by Lincolnshire Police has been published today and states there will be tough choices ahead for the Force if more funding is not provided from March next year.

Earlier this year every force in the country was asked by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate to start compiling their reports for submission to them by mid-summer. Lincolnshire is believed to be the first force in the country to publish its report.

The Inspectorate said the rationale for asking forces to compile the reports was to explain the demand the force expects to face in the next four years. It also wanted them to explain how the force thinks it will change and improve its workforce and other assets to cope with that demand; how it will improve its efficiency to make sure the gap between future demand and future capability is as small as it can reasonably be and the money the force expects to have to meet all the demands.

Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, Bill Skelly says that when you are asked to plan four years ahead there are inevitably many unpredictable elements. “Not least the amount of funding we will receive to deliver our services in the future,” he says. “As I say in the report to HMICFRS, there will be tough choices ahead for the Force if more funding is not provided.” Mr Skelly says that HMICFRS thanked the force for its candour when they had read the report because the overall message is that policing Lincolnshire will have to fundamentally change if no new funding is forthcoming. “The new plan addresses the implications of funding shortfalls.”

Mr Skelly says that one imperative prior to every new financial year is that the Police and Crime Commissioner must present a balanced budget. “Our Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) means that we need to find savings over the next three financial years of £3.5m (2019/20), £6.4m (2020/21) and £6.9m (2021/2022),” says Mr Skelly. “Readers of the report will see that Lincolnshire is facing some stark choices if Government funding is not made available and implementing this plan is necessary to meet future projected costs. In the context of finance, we simply cannot be non-viable and, unlike some other public sector services, have to keep going. We cannot run into debt. So with less money there is going to have to be less service, ” he said.

He emphasises that the Force and Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones are continuing to work hard to campaign for a better deal for Lincolnshire. “We have been encouraged by some very favourable comments from within Parliament and the Policing Minister himself about the way we operate. Our focus will be on maximising income so that we can continue to provide the best level of service to the people of Lincolnshire."

Pages 6 and 7 of the report provide charts and explanations of various elements of the demands on the force, where it is expected to grow in future and the plans for addressing those increasing demands. Mr Skelly says he and his senior colleagues are fully aware that the Force is struggling with current demand and the need for increased resources not reductions, particularly in the areas of response and patrol.

Mr Skelly acknowledges that some of the options will make headlines and generate negative coverage. “In the report we emphasise time and again that the savings cannot be achieved without a serious degradation of service which includes reductions across all categories of the workforce including police officers, PCSOs, police staff and staff employed by the Force’s strategic partner G4S. The proposals set out in the savings plan within the Force Management Statement are not finalised and will be subject to full consultation,” he says. “The plan has been drawn up with a view to avoiding any compulsory redundancies.”

The stark choices which may have to be made if more funding is not provided include:

  • Police officers, currently 1,100, will need to be reduced by 60 and that could include areas such as dog handlers, roads policing, volume crime investigation as well as response and neighbourhood policing. This represents a substantial fall in officer numbers when just a decade ago (2007) there were 1,245 officers.
  • The force rank structure will be reviewed with potential reductions in all ranks. The force has said that if such changes have to be implemented, their resilience to respond to major incidents and continue to meet its commitments to the national strategic requirement would be reduced.
  • PCSOs, the bedrock of neighbourhood and community policing, would need to be reduced by more than 40% which in real terms would mean numbers reducing from the current 120 to 67. This alone would demand a radically different operating model.
  • Based on budget value, it is estimated that police staff posts would need to reduce by 10% which on average salary costs could equate to approximately 30 posts but detailed plans would be made when there is certainty over funding. That scale of reduction has the potential to impact on a range of services but could include crime investigation; the delivery of change programmes and analytical capability – but the reality will depend on where the reductions are targeted. The force is keen to achieve this reduction through natural progression and to avoid the need for redundancy.
  • To achieve the £3.5m first year savings, the force has estimated that it would also need to reduce the cost of the contract with its strategic partner G4S by about 4%. G4S say this will be difficult to achieve without reductions in operational support and the back office staff provided by them – it will mean that services will need to be redesigned and may still affect public facing delivery. If there is an unavoidable requirement to reduce staff, G4S say they will be keen to achieve any reduction required through natural progression and to avoid the need for any redundancies.

The Lincolnshire Police Federation, Unison and G4S have been commenting on the potential implementation of the plan.

Chair of Lincolnshire Police Federation Jon Hassall said the taxpayer in Lincolnshire does not get a fair deal and police officers are breaking because of the strain on them. “This is a sad indictment of what government has done to policing. It’s all very well hearing, ‘favourable comments about how we operate from within Parliament’, but the time for words is passed and we need to see action,” he said. “If we are to lose police officers, and I urge that we don’t, there needs to be a strong focus on telling the public what we will, sadly, no longer be able to do for them”

Secretary of Unison for Lincolnshire Police staff, Debbie Parker said the Force has always been generally supportive of the need for appropriate, but not excessive numbers of police staff including PCSOs and has always been appreciative of their immense value to the organisation. “UNISON feels that budgetary cuts on the scale envisaged will seriously undermine the ability of the Force to provide the current high standards they achieve, with the assistance of its members, so as to best serve the demands of the community at large. Any lessening of services currently provided would seriously impact on the capability of the Force which will have been brought about through no fault of its own,” she said.

Director of G4S Services Delivery for Lincolnshire Police, Fiona Davies said: “We are proud to work in partnership with Lincolnshire Police, providing innovative solutions and streamlined processes which allow the force to spend more time on frontline policing. Over the past seven years, we have saved Lincolnshire Police on average more than £4 million per year.

Mr Skelly says that even with a reduced budget, the Chief Officer team remains committed to continuing to invest in key elements to support the workforce in future. “That includes providing access to the latest and very best technology including mobile data, alternative fuel vehicles and continuing to upgrade ICT in general,” he says. “The commitment to staff wellbeing will continue, which includes fitting out workplace gyms and developing screening and other services.”



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