Lincolnshire Police and Commissioner Marc Jones says he will not resign as force looks to axe 200 officers

The elected figurehead of our police force has vowed not to resign — after residents laid some of the blame at his door for the potential loss of 200 officers.

Under fire Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones says financial challenges are ‘not a new problem’ for the county’s police force — which is the worst funded in the country. South Holland already suffers from a low share of the county’s meagre policing resources and is facing cuts to an already small number.

Last week Chief Constable Paul Gibson warned of the ‘imminent withdrawal of core services’ and the loss of 400 people — police officers and support staff — as he tries to plug a £14 million hole in his budget.

Residents have reacted angrily to likely cuts — with many areas already frustrated at losing PCSOs — and some have turned their frustrations toward Mr Jones, who stood by his record and said he has boosted the force’s budget since he took over in 2016 to nearly £180 million

Coun Rob Gibson, chairman of Spalding Town Forum, said: “I think he should do the honourable thing and quit. In fact, I think he should disband his office and divert the money to front line police. If it's a choice between a PCC and front line police I know which I would rather have.”

The Government announced that the police settlement for Lincolnshire Police is £174.1 million, a six percent increase — but that was not seen as enough to stave off major cuts. Labour figures have also called for reform of the force in light of failings highlighted in a recent inspection.

A key problem for the force’s finances is the refusal of successive governments to reform the police funding formula - despite repeated attempts by Mr Jones and the county’s MPs, including South Holland and the Deepings’ Sir John Hayes.

Mr Jones says he has ‘worked tirelessly’ over the last two years to get a new formula created which is ready for public consultation - but adds that it is a ‘ministerial decision’ to enact that.

He said: “With the lowest funding per head in the country, Lincolnshire Police has many things to be proud of and I am proud to have played a part in leading that work and having recently been given a mandate from the people of Lincolnshire to do so I will be proud to continue with that work.”

Mr Jones has highlighted the achievements of the force since he took over in 2016 which includes the ‘highest number of rape charges to convictions

Previous Chief Constable Neil Rhodes comments about the force’s finances in 2015 prompted his decision to stand for election, Mr Jones said.

He said: “The financial challenges for Lincolnshire are not a new problem.

“Since then I have boosted the budget from £112million to close to £180million some nine percent above inflation not including the millions of additional ‘one off’ funding I have secured.

“This has protected policing in Lincolnshire and allowed a transformation into a more modern force that leads the way nationally in several areas keeping us all safer.

“For example Lincolnshire are the best in the country at answering emergency 999 calls, have consistently the best firearms licensing department, one of the best performances for compiling files for the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) to aid charging and convictions and the highest percentage of rape charges to convictions to mention a few.

“With the lowest funding per head in the country, Lincolnshire Police has many things to be proud of and I am proud to have played a part in leading that work and having recently been given a mandate from the people of Lincolnshire to do so I will be proud to continue with that work.”

Talks have been held with successive governments about the force’s funding by Mr Jones along with the county’s MPs but so far the arguments have not resulted in the changes that they wanted.

Mr Jones said: “I worked tirelessly to ensure that a new funding formula for police finance was not only created but was done so in a robust and fair way to ensure that it could be accepted by forces.

“This work took two years to complete, working with policing, academia and government and is ready for public consultation. It is up to the current government to do that and at this point it is unclear whether they intend to do so or when. It is clearly a ministerial decision and not one as PCC can take.”

He also says that legal action against the Government over the police funding formula is continuing.

Mr Jones said: “Legal action against the Home Office’s continued use of the broken, outdated funding formula was started by me when the Conservative Government were still in office.

“That action continues and I remain willing and eager to avoid court action if we can get a fair settlement from Government.

“I emphasise the scale of the unfairness by pointing out that if Lincolnshire received the same formula percentage of funding as Cumbria we could recruit and deploy an additional 1000 police officers taking our numbers to 2286 rather than down to 1000.

“That is a shameful injustice and one I will continue to challenge on behalf of the communities of Lincolnshire.”

Spalding Town Forum chairman Mr Gibson is calling for action to be taken to improve funding of Lincolnshire’s services especially as shoppers in Spalding have concerns.

He said: “The number one issue for shoppers in Spalding is the feeling of being unsafe, fear of crime and unpleasant street drinkers.

“Recently we learn that Lincolnshire police is in special measures and now we learn they are unable to fund the officers we have.

“Another Lincolnshire service that is underfunded and needs sorting ASAP.

“We need to restore safety in our town before anything else, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner should of spent more time looking after Lincolnshire police and less time trying to become the Mayor of Lincolnshire.

“Fund our councils, fund our police and let us restore pride in our district once more.”

Mr Jones has been supported by Helen Stamp, chair of the Lincolnshire branch of the Police Federation.

She said: “We do not support that the PCC should resign. He has worked tirelessly over the years to try and get this and the previous government to review the funding formula for policing, even going to the length of launching a judicial review against the Home Office.

“It is inevitable that with such a significant funding gap officer numbers have to be reviewed. It is most disappointing that it has got to this stage but that is by no means the fault of the PCC.”