Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones says it’s ‘time to get the hell on’ with funding formula changes as Conservative Government promises 8,000 additional officers

Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner says ‘it’s time to get the hell on’ with changing how forces are funded on a day when his party promised 8,000 additional officers across the country.

Marc Jones is currently threatening legal action against the Home Office in a bid to change the ‘outdated’ funding formula - which he says leaves Lincolnshire Police ‘ill suited’ to tackle the challenges it faces.

Lincolnshire Police is one of the worst funded in the country and last year was forced to slash its numbers of Police Community Support Officers in order to tackle a £10million funding black hole over a three year period.

As part of its bid to be re-elected, the Conservative Party has today announced that it would recruit an additional 8,000 police officers nationally if it wins the General Election on July 4.

Mr Jones, who is also a Conservative and recently re-elected for a third term, said he welcomes the pledge but the funding issue must be resolved first.

In a social media post Mr Jones said: “Fully support the Conservative pledge to deliver 8000 additional, full time Police Officers to support the neighbourhood policing mission. This must come after funding formula reform. The money to deliver this uplift can resolve the ‘winners/losers issue with a new formula.

“With a new police national funding formula ready to consult on its time to get the hell on with it and end the unacceptable inequalities in police funding. It just needs the political will to do the right thing and commit to delivering the new fairer funding model.”

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