Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones said ‘mega force’ plan won’t solve funding problems

Cash-strapped Lincolnshire Police’s problems will not be solved by being absorbed into a ‘mega force’ says the county’s commissioner.

Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitian Police, has put forward proposals to scrap the ‘out of date’ 43 county forces to create ten to 15 larger forces over the weekend.

But, even after a difficult year, these arguments have not persuaded Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones.

Lincolnshire Police was facing have to cut 400 jobs - including 200 frontline officers - earlier this year as it faced up to a £14 million deficit but this has been delayed after Mr Jones won an additional £5.7million from the Home Office.

Mr Jones (Con) said: “I’ve heard the arguments about police reform many times over many years. It generally puts forward the premise that bigger is more efficient and, therefore, better. But for whom?

“Who is to say that bigger forces won’t struggle with funding or that larger forces in the south will get better funding than forces in the north. If a new East Midlands force is created, for example, who knows whether a new chief will devote greater resources and manpower to Nottingham rather than Lincoln, Spalding or Skegness and if so how will the residents of Lincolnshire get their voice heard?

“The bottom line is that, big or small, all police forces should be funded properly and fairly. There is no earthly reason why the people of our county should get less funding per head than people in Norfolk or Cornwall.

“There is ample evidence that Lincolnshire Police is both efficient and effective with the money it has but it’s not enough. If the “funding cake” is too small it doesn’t matter whether you slice it six ways or 43 ways – there just isn’t enough to go round.

“Reforming police forces into larger and fewer number won’t solve the underlying problem and will only add new ones.”

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