As children return to school after a summer that went by all too quickly yet again, I hope everyone found some time to enjoy the longer days and temporary relief from the rain! With the new academic year now underway, it's also a good moment to pause and reflect on the people who quietly keep our communities running - often without much thanks or recognition.
Among them, our local police officers stand out. Whether it’s tackling antisocial behaviour, responding to other emergencies, or simply being a visible, reassuring presence on our streets, Lincolnshire Police play a vital role in keeping our community safe. Indeed, thanks to the hard work of our police men and women and the support of residents, crime has been falling in recent years across Grantham and Bourne constituency. We’ve also seen an uplift in the number of police officers since 2019 across our county, but I’m afraid we have recently been warned that this progress is now under serious threat.
Lincolnshire Police have alerted us to a funding crisis that could force a reduction in police officer and staff numbers as soon as next month. The Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner have made it clear: unless urgent action is taken, the force will have no choice but to shrink to just 1,000 officers. They do not believe that is enough to cover a county as large and rural as ours and so I know this is a concern to many constituents.
For almost 20 years, police funding has for a number of reasons favoured urban areas. As such Lincolnshire is actually now one of the lowest funded forces in the country. Alongside other Lincolnshire MPs, I’ve repeatedly raised this with Ministers, but the situation is now incredibly serious and Lincolnshire Police are facing an immediate and unprecedented financial challenge. Earlier this week, following our joint letter to the Home Secretary, Conservative Lincolnshire MPs joined other Members of Parliament to meet with the Policing Minister to discuss just how urgent the situation has now become.
The Minister acknowledged our concerns and confirmed the Government’s intention to bring forward a White Paper this autumn on police procurement, and that a broader review of how funding is allocated across English and Welsh police forces will take place. However, our concern is that this does nothing to solve the immediate crisis facing Lincolnshire Police right now which could result in the first bankruptcy of a police force in history. This is an outcome nobody wants.
Our local police continue to do an exceptional job despite limited resources, but they simply cannot be expected to keep stretching an ever-tighter budget. Additional funding is necessary to ensure that the people of Grantham, Bourne, and our villages continue to feel safe in their homes and on their streets. The people of Lincolnshire deserve a police force that is properly resourced, fully staffed, and ready to respond. Anything less is simply unacceptable.
