Police chief's call for fairer funding

Chief Constable Paul Gibson began his career in Lincolnshire in 1998

Lincolnshire Police's new chief constable has called for the force to be "funded fairly" to help tackle "hidden harm" in the county.

Paul Gibson was appointed the most senior office in the force after the previous chief constable Chris Haward announced his retirement in November.

Mr Haward had described Lincolnshire Police as "the lowest funded force in the UK".

The government said the force would receive £8.9m more in funding in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24.

Lincolnshire Police have a new hybrid car with branding to reflect the King's Crown

In a statement in January, Mr Haward said Lincolnshire Police had the lowest number of offices and staff per head of the population.

In 2023, he cut the number of police community support officers by 45% because of a £3.4m funding gap.

Mr Gibson said he would go to the government to ask to be "funded fairly" although he did not "underestimate the challenge".

He acknowledged Lincolnshire is "perhaps a quieter force", but said "hidden harm" was happening in the country "and therefore we must tackle it and we must have the right resources to do so".

Chief Constable Paul Gibson said it was an "honour" to take on the role

The goverment said it had already raised police budgets.

“Lincolnshire Police’s funding will receive up to £163.9 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £8.9 million when compared to 2023/24," a Home Office spokesperson said.

"The government is committed to ensuring police have the resources they need to tackle crime and through our police recruitment campaign, we delivered on our promise to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March last year," they added.

Mr Gibson also praised the force's achivements, saying "We've seen some real improvements: burglary down by 25%, vehicle crime down by 20%. We are making inroads into making Lincolnshire as safe as it can be."

'Couldn't be more proud'

Mr Gibson began his career as a police officer in Grantham in 1998 and worked in other parts of the country before returning to Lincolnshire to take on the role of chief constable.

"When it's the county you were born in, that holds something very dear to me in coming back here and coming home. If you'd asked me in 1998, I'd have said no way," he said.

"I couldn't be more proud."

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