The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The Government’s policing minister is to visit Lincolnshire to see first hand how funding struggles affect the county after a call from South Holland MP John Hayes.
Mr Hayes met Mike Penning last week with Lincolnshire chief constable Neil Rhodes and police and crime commissioner Alan Hardwick, as well as other county MPs.
He called on Mr Penning to reassess the formula used to allocate funding to police forces, which he says is unfair to such a large, rural and sparsely populated county.
Mr Rhodes and Mr Hardwick had previously written to the Home Secretary saying the current formula could see the force on the “edge of viability” in a few years.
Mr Rhodes warned that the county might have to lose the equivalent of 236 officers to meet a predicted £10.4million spending shortfall of 2017/18.
After the meeting Mr Hayes said: “We have made real progress on securing a fresh commitment to new thinking about funding Lincolnshire police.”
As well as agreeing to visit the county himself, Mr Penning has also agreed to send senior officials to work with Lincolnshire police to explore the facts around its funding to see what can be done.
Mr Hayes said: “He has also said he will look at every avenue, notwithstanding the challenge of saving Government money to cut the deficit, for a possible solution.”
Mr Penning has also promised to consider a bid from the Police and Crime Commissioner for interim financial support from the special grant fund and will invite Lincolnshire’s chief constable to contribute to the group advising the Minister looking at police funding more generally.
Mr Hayes added: “This is really positive news.
“I’ve always fought for a fair deal for Lincolnshire because I want policing which guarantees the safety and security of the people I serve; support for our excellent police officers here in South Holland and the Deepings, and a long term funding solution for Lincolnshire Police which protects us into the future.”
The other MPs at the meeting were Edward Leigh, Stephen Phillips, Mark Simmonds and Karl McCartney.
