Lincolnshire Police to cut PCSOs and raid reserves after 'negative' budget settlement
Bosses at Lincolnshire Police say they will have to cut officer numbers and raid their cash reserves as they face up to a £10 million budget black hole.
The force's chief constable Chris Haward has spoken out about the 'negative' cash settlement which means there will be an 'underlying gap' of £3.4 million for the current year alone and leaving 'urgent and critical' decisions to be made.
The number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) is being slashed from 91 to 50, meaning even fewer resources for a county with the lowest number of officers per head in the UK.
Chief Const Haward said: "Given the size of the funding gap we now face, we have had to make urgent and critical decisions, which mean it is unavoidable that some front-line services will be affected. None of these decisions come lightly and we have considered every option across all parts of the force. It is clear, from this work and based on the funding we now know we have, that the current PCSO model is not sustainable within the forecasted budget.
"Whilst this is not something I want to do, we will have to reduce our PCSO numbers from 91 to 50 and reconfigure the operating model to ensure we still have an effective response prioritising neighbourhoods at highest risk of threat and harm. We know how important neighbourhood policing is, which is why we plan to retain as many of our PCSOs as possible, but know this change will cause concern to some people.
"PCSOs will continue to support community policing alongside regular officers who remain dedicated to their respective neighbourhoods. This is a decision that has been made only recently, having been left no other option when looking at other areas and departments and considering what is possible within the budget and what we most need in terms of threat, risk and harm in order to keep people in this county safe.
"Please bear with us and when we can tell you more, we will make sure to get that information over to you.”
Chief Const Haward said the force's budget has had a 'small uplift' - but 'inflationary and service pressures' mean this will not be enough to mean that it does not have to dip into its reserves.
The 'underlying gap' in the budget it set to grow to about £10 million for the next three years.
The force said it had already planned to make recurrent savings of £3m per annum to bridge the gap but 'the situation has now become more challenging'.
This will be partially addressed by using reserves in the next two years but means that further savings must be identified to close the gap.
Chief Const Haward said: “The budget settlement we have just received has been far more negative than anticipated and having spent recent weeks collectively and urgently working through the implications, it is clear that the use of our reserves isn’t enough to close the gap we face.
"We remain the lowest funded force in the UK with the lowest officers and staff per head of population. Despite this our teams do an incredible job to make sure Lincolnshire is a safe place for everyone who lives, works, or visits here. We do everything we can to deploy our people where they are most needed based on threat, risk, and harm to the public.
"Thanks to in-depth analysis that concluded recently, in which we examined every single area of the organisation, we have never before had a better understanding of our people, our demand, where we need investment, and where we can start to look at making changes. All of this is based on making the county safe for everyone. We are lean, but we are effective in what we deliver."
The force had only recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of PCSOs - hailing their 'fundamental' role in keeping people safe.
*What do you think? Are you worried about the lack of funding for our police? Post your thoughts below or email andrew.brookes@iliffepublishing.co.uk
