We have just received confirmation from central Government that we will receive funding for 50 extra police officers in Lincolnshire as part of the national uplift.

Early in his tenure Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he was allocating funding that would be dedicated to getting an extra 20,000 police officers onto the streets of England and Wales. Since that announcement Chief Officers and PCC Marc Jones have been working hard and discussing the policing position in Lincolnshire direct and in person with various MPs to ensure they understand the challenges around policing in this county.

Temporary Chief Constable Jason Harwin said: “We now know that there are 6,000 police officers being dedicated to local policing and we will be allocated 50 of those.

“The news is good. We will have an extra 50 police officers here in Lincolnshire by the end of March 2021 and that is an improvement on where we thought we would be. Our financial challenges and the deficit we face means that we had to plan for reduction in numbers through people leaving and retiring, and by controlling recruitment, to make sure our budget was balanced. We now know that picture isn’t quite so bleak thanks to the government funding for extra police officers.

“Any extra officers on the streets of Lincolnshire will further improve policing in this county and the extra 50 are welcome. We are the lowest funded police force in England and Wales yet we continue to police Lincolnshire to an excellent standard and deliver the best possible service to residents of this county, but it puts every member of our workforce under substantial pressure.

“We have various initiatives in force aimed to try and ‘treat’ the symptoms of that pressure, such as our Wellbeing programme, but what will really help people is that some of that pressure is removed in the first place. Extra people will help.

“However, we still face financial challenges and while the uplift for Lincolnshire is welcome we know that it will not solve the deficit we face in coming years. In financial terms, this means a gap of £6.7m next year. We will continue to fight for fair funding in Lincolnshire and we will continue to make efforts to understand, change and evolve so we make sure our resources are put in the places where most needed to best protect and serve the people of Lincolnshire.”