Lincolnshire police will be axing 400 jobs within the next few weeks unless a deal can be made with the government.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson says consultations with 200 officers and 200 staff could begin in early October, but he hopes it won’t be necessary.
Fears were raised last month that the county force could be the first in the country to effectively declare bankruptcy.
An independent report recently said the force is efficient, but doesn’t have the resources needed to do its job properly.
“This issue has been going on for 15 or 20 years, I’m the fourth or fifth Chief Constable who has had to grapple with meagre resources,” said Mr Gibson. “We have made the argument that Lincolnshire is a special case – it is 2,500 square miles, with people living across the whole landscape, which has a massive impact on how we deliver services,” he said.
The force did receive a temporary boost with £5.7m earlier this year, but a longer-term solution has yet to appear.
“What I need categorically is a three-year settlement so I can plan, deliver and transform the organisation to deliver the very best services.”
He pointed to an independent report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, which concluded the force is ‘cost-conscious, efficient and we simply don’t have enough funding.’
The report said the current financial settlement ‘is not sufficient to support a sustainable policing model in the medium term. Without structural reform or a revised national funding formula, the force will continue to face a cycle of short term balancing measures and reactive budget setting.’
The Home Office had previously said the budget for Lincolnshire had been increased by 6.2 per cent to £274.5m.
Leaders will meet with Policing Minister Diana Johnson next month and the Chief Constable says he hopes a ‘consistent and sustainable’ solution can be found.
Staff from the Home Office will also visit Lincolnshire to see the challenges faced by the force.
If a balanced budget cannot be set for next year, the force will issue a Section 114 notice – effectively declaring itself insolvent. This could be as early as later this year or early 2026.
Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones had already spoken of the challenges and said last month that ‘doing more with less is no longer possible.’
In an open letter, he said Lincolnshire remains the lowest funded force in the country per head of population.
The situation ‘has as very real impact on its ability to protect communities, deliver visible policing and meet the rising complexity of modern demand.’
