Lincolnshire Police share of council tax bill to rise but the extra cash won’t be enough to avoid major job cuts

Lincolnshire Police’s share of council tax will rise — but the extra money from ratepayers won’t be enough to stave off a financial crisis which could mean cutting hundreds of jobs.

Leaders warned that police services had already been cut to the bone, and would struggle to make improvements with ‘threadbare’ resources.

About 400 staff and officers may be cut without urgent funding from the government.

A rise in police’s share of council tax was approved by councillors on the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel on Friday (February 7), with only Boston councillor Stephen Woodliffe voting against it.

A Band D property will pay an extra £14, for a total of £318 per year. Residents had told the Local Democracy Reporting service that they would pay more to avoid cuts.

However, despite a rise in council tax, the force will still need to find £14 million of savings over the 2025/26 financial year, rising to £20 million the following year.

Chief Constable Paul Gibson said no firm decision had been taken on how to close the budget black hole.

“I knew money would be issue when I joined Lincolnshire Police, but it’s stark to see how threadbare it is compared to other forces in the East Midlands,” he told the committee.

“We welcome additional money from the government, but this has been wiped out by inflation and other cost pressures.

He added: “Cuts would move us to be a far more reactive force which has to respond and investigate, away from proactive, preventative force we aspire to be.”

Discussions are continuing with the Home Office in a bid to avert cuts from April.

Commissioner Marc Jones — who this week faced calls for him to resign over the funding crisis — said: “This is not just the usual difficult circumstances but dire straits.”

He said there was a legal option to hold a referendum on increasing council tax by more than the £14 limit, but this would have cost more than £1m and would almost certainly fail.

“Nobody in their right mind would waste taxpayers’ money like that,” he said.

About 60 officers typically leave per year, whether for retirement or career changes.

As officers can’t be made redundant, this could mean a recruitment freeze continuing for three years as the required number naturally leave or retire, on top of cuts to civilian staff.

The Chief Constable told the committee it would be difficult to make improvements asked for by His Majesty’s Constabulary, which reviews police forces.

“What HMI wants us to do is achievable, but not while we’re making deep cuts,” he said.

Lincolnshire Police receives the lowest funding per person in the country, and leaders have called for years for the formula which determines this to be reformed.