Lincolnshire residents willing to pay more council tax to stop 400 police officers and staff from being axed
Lincolnshire residents say they would be willing to pay more council tax to stop 400 police officers and staff from being axed.
The county’s force is currently facing a £14m blackhole in its finances for 2025/26, with leaders saying recently that the situation was even worse than previously thought.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson has warned over 400 jobs 0- including 200 officers - will have to be cut unless ‘signficant and urgent funding’ is received.
Police Crime Commissioner Marc Jones (Con) said he briefly considered holding a public vote on a higher rise to deal with the forces gaping budget hole, but this would have been too costly and time-consuming.
However almost everyone spoken to in Lincoln’s Bailgate area by the Local Democracy Reporting Service said they would have voted in favour of higher council tax to protect frontline police jobs.
David Stockings from Boston said: “I believe in paying for the services we need.
“There’s not enough police on the streets as it is – if we lost another few hundred, we’d never see them.
“There would be a huge adverse effect.”
Cath and Rob Batty said: “The government should do their bit first, but if needs must, then council tax should go up.
“You would see a massive difference otherwise. Police are already stretched so thin.”
June Williams said: “It depends how much it would go up by. Four-hundred officers would absolutely make a big difference.”
Darryl said: “I don’t mind paying more if it’s well spent, although I’m not sure how wisely all of it is used at the moment.”
However, another local man said: “Council tax is high enough as it is. If it goes up, it probably wouldn’t be spent well.”
The force unexpectedly withdrew job offers from new police officers who were expecting to start training this year.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson said last week: “There is a simple and stark message: without urgent and significant funding, I will need to reduce our organisation by over 400 officers and staff.
“I have reluctantly cancelled police recruitment and will need to start reducing police staff numbers significantly and immediately.
“This is no longer about balancing financial spreadsheets, this is about the imminent withdrawal of core services to the communities of Lincolnshire which will be clearly seen and felt by our residents.
“We will go from being the least funded force in the country to being an extreme outlier at a time when there is the need to improve our services.”
Lincolnshire Police’s budget for the next year will be discussed at a meeting with councillors on Friday (February 7).
Commissioner Marc Jones says residents are “overwhelmingly” in favour of a higher tax to protect the police force.
However he is limited to an increase of £14 for a Band D property without holding a referendum, which would be a total of £318 per year.
He asked the Policing Minister Yvette Cooper for permission to bypass this in light of Lincolnshire Police’s dire outlook, but was denied permission.
