Lincolnshire Police to cut PSCO numbers by nearly half

PCSO numbers will be reduced from 91 to 50 due to financial pressures, Lincolnshire Police says

Lincolnshire Police has announced it will slash the number of PCSOs by 45% because of a £3.4m funding gap.

Chief Constable Chris Haward said there was "no other option" but to cut PCSO numbers from 91 to 50 due to financial pressures.

The force was the lowest-funded in the UK "with the lowest officers and staff per head of population", he said.

Mr Haward said the gap would grow to about £10m for the next three years due to inflationary and service pressures.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said plans were already in the pipeline to make savings of £3m per annum in order to "bridge the gap but the situation has now become more challenging".

"The latest grant settlement awarded the force a small uplift but means that the force's budget for the current year had an underlying gap of £3.4m, balanced by using reserves," they said.

In a statement, Mr Haward said he did not want to reduce the level of PCSO staff but the force's reserve funding "isn't enough to close the gap we face".

"We have had to make urgent and critical decisions, which mean it is unavoidable that some front-line services will be affected," he said.

"None of these decisions come lightly and we have considered every option across all parts of the force.

"It is clear, from this work and based on the funding we now know we have, that the current PCSO model is not sustainable within the forecasted budget."

'Incredible job'

He said the force's operating model would be reconfigured "to ensure we still have an effective response prioritising neighbourhoods at highest risk of threat and harm".

"We know how important neighbourhood policing is, which is why we plan to retain as many of our PCSOs as possible, but know this change will cause concern to some people," added Mr Haward.

"PCSOs will continue to support community policing alongside regular officers who remain dedicated to their respective neighbourhoods."

He praised his teams for doing "an incredible job to make sure Lincolnshire is a safe place for everyone".