Memorandum submitted by Lincolnshire Police
Authority
CURRENT STAFF
NUMBERS
The numbers of police officers employed by the
force are subject to fluctuations, primarily as a consequence
of recruiting in large batches. The core establishment posts represent
a more accurate picture of the underlying trends for police officer
and staff numbers and are given in table 1 below. These figures
include temporary posts and those funded by partner agencies but
exclude staff on secondments to other authorities.
Table 1
ESTABLISHED POSTS AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
| FTEs |
| Police Officers | 1,195.00
|
| Police Staffr | 994.47 |
| PCSOs | 149.00 |
Total | 2,338.47 |
| |
CHANGES TO
STAFF NUMBERS,
2005-06 TO 2009-10
The numbers of approved established posts in previous years are
given in table 2 below.
Table 2
ESTABLISHED POSTS, MARCH 2005 TO MARCH 2009
| 31 Mar 2005 | 31 Mar 2006
| 31 Mar 2007 | 31 Mar 2008
| 31 Mar 2009 |
| FTEs | FTEs
| FTEs | FTEs |
FTEs |
| Police Officers | 1,231.0 |
1,231.0 | 1,28.0 | 1,1780.0
| 1,196.0 |
| Police Staff | 731.5 | 758.7
| 783.8 | 890.6 | 932.8
|
| PCSOs | 81.0 | 102.0
| 149.0 | 149.0 | 149.0
|
Total | 2,043.5 | 2,091.7
| 2,160.8 | 2,209.6 | 2,277.8
|
| | |
| | |
The most obvious change during this period was the civilianisation
of 62 police officer posts during 2007-08. A number of roles such
as custodian duties were transferred to police staff enabling
the force to release officers for front line patrol. The force
has been able to release money for reinvestment in high priority
areas and as a result there are more officers patrolling the streets
of Lincolnshire today than ever before.
RELATIONSHIPS AND
TRENDS: FUNDING,
EFFICIENCY, AND
OVERALL FINANCIAL
POSITION
2005-06
The Authority faced a difficult budget, with pressure from
the increasing cost of Police Pensions taking up the majority
of the increase in available funding. The Authority implemented
a series of expenditure cuts across the Force in order to balance
the budget. These included reductions in employee costs as well
as overhead budgets. The Force had undertaken considerable work
during the year to identify operational demands, with additional
investment of £2.3 million being identified following a process
of critical review and prioritisation. In the event the poor funding
position meant that none of these cases were progressed.
The Force received the lowest amount of overall government grant
per head of population. Council tax capping in the year prevented
the Authority from raising additional funding, with a 6.5% increase
in tax being finally set. In any event the Authority needed to
utilise reserves of £2.6 million to balance the budget.
The efficiency plan for the year consisted of the cash releasing
savings identified to balance the budget.
2006-07
The Force baseline assessment for 2005-06 stated that Lincolnshire
"faces serious financial difficulties and in terms of financial
viability is in one of the worst situations of any Authority/Force
within the service". The budget for 2006-07 was again prepared
against a backdrop of a low funding settlement and council tax
capping. In order to provide for a balanced budget a review of
all expenditure was undertaken resulting in savings of £2.5
million being identified. These savings together with a use of
reserves of £1.7 million enabled a balanced budget to be
set with a council tax increase at the capping limit of 5%.
The County Council in conjunction with the District Council and
in support of Neighbourhood Policing provided funding to enable
the recruitment of 59 additional Police Community Support Officers,
together with nine other Police Staff posts in support of the
initiative. These posts are still funded in this manner, albeit
that monies now only come from the County Council. Withdrawal
of such support in the near future is a real and continuing risk
to the Force.
The efficiency plan for the year again consisted of the cash
releasing savings identified to balance the budget.
2007-08
The budget setting process for 2007-08 brought to a head
the difficulties facing the Authority in setting a balanced budget
for the year. This resulted in a special grant of £3.4 million
being awarded to the Authority as one off support by the Home
Office. A recovery plan was produced as a requirement of the grant;
this report detailed the difficulties which consecutive years
of budget cuts and use of reserves had generated. The report highlighted
that a large increase in council tax would be required to enable
the Authority to set a balanced budget that also addressed some
of the gaps in service provision, which had been left unaddressed
by previous budgets.
During the year the Force commenced a workforce modernisation
project, which resulted in the civilianisation of 62 police officer
posts. Additionally, in the light of the Bichard Report a project
was established to implement improvements in the Management of
Police Information resulting in the appointment of 23 police staff
posts in this important area of service provision.
The efficiency plan for the year related to the cash savings
generated from the workforce modernisation programme together
with other efficiencies across the Force.
2008-09
The budget for 2008-09 was set against a detailed and far
reaching case for additional funding which the Authority and Force
had been working and consulting on throughout 2007-08. The case
detailed the extent to which Lincolnshire was under funded and
the impact this was having on the delivery of policing to Lincolnshire.
As a result at its meeting on 27 February 2008 the Police Authority
approved an increase in council tax of 78.9% and an increase in
budget requirement of £26.6 million or 29%. The Government
announced its reserve capping powers on 27 March 2008, when it
designated the Authority at the capping limit.
The Authority exercised its right to challenge this proposed
maximum budget, making a detailed written submission in support
of the case. The Authority was required to set a new council tax
at an increase of 26% and a new budget requirement at a maximum
of £100.6 million (an increase of 11.3%). The Authority was
also required to request the District Councils to re-bill council
taxpayers, with all of the associated costs being met by the Police
Authority.
As a result of this increase in council tax the Force commenced
work to ensure that wherever possible resources were released
to meet the identified gaps in service provision. As a first step
during the year the Force was able to release funds to appoint
on a fixed term basis police staff roles in important areas of
public protection.
2009-10
The capping decision in the previous year had provided for
some stability in the overall budget but still left two main issues:
During the past 18 months the Authority has made significant
changes within the Chief Officer team, appointing a new chief
constable, deputy chief constable and two new assistant chief
constables. The Authority and force have adopted a radical and
energetic approach to rebalancing Lincolnshire Police to meet
the changing and challenging needs of the year ahead.
The Force re-examined its budget to identify areas that could
be reprioritised on a risk-based approach. This released £1.3
million of funding and enabled the Authority as part of setting
a balanced budget to provide for the appointment of an additional
nine police officers, 18 permanent police staff and 17 further
fixed term appointments. All of these posts are in operational
policing roles, or in direct support of them.
LIKELY WORKFORCE
CHANGES IN
THE COMING
YEAR
It is anticipated that there will be minimal changes to the
workforce during this period. Plans are in place to provide for
the continued funding of fixed term posts until August 2011. The
Force will work to identify resources to increase the number of
officers in neighbourhood policing during the period.
PLANS TO
DEAL WITH
REDUCED FUNDING
The Force is considering the implications of reduced future
funding, concentrating on the identification of efficiencies through
service reviews and the prioritisation of spending. It is recognised
that in order to maintain service levels significant efficiencies
will be required. The continuation of funding from the County
Council towards the cost of PCSOs will be crucial to maintaining
numbers in this area.
The application of floor funding means that even though Lincolnshire
is a poorly funded Force it contributes approximately £1.3
million to the floor-funding scheme.
All of this should be set in the context of the overall funding
position. Lincolnshire Police has for many years been concerned
about the low level of Formula Grant that it receives compared
to other Forces. The following graph shows this position for 2009-10.
(As Lincolnshire's Most Similar Forces now include two Welsh Forces
only Norfolk and Suffolk are highlighted, as this data is unavailable
for Wales).
Figure 1
FORMULA GRANT PER HEAD OF POPULATION (SETTLEMENT 2009-10)
The following graph shows how the trend in relative grant
per head of population has varied since the inception of Police
Authorities. Each Authority is represented by a line on the chart
with Lincolnshire being shown with blocks. It can be seen that
since 1995-96, only one Force, Surrey, has had a lower increase
in Grant per Head than Lincolnshire.
Figure 2
TREND IN RELATIVE GRANT PER HEAD OF POPULATION
It is important to note that whilst Lincolnshire spends the
least per head of population of all Police Authorities this is
not as a result of a proportionately lower Police Precept contribution.
As Figure 3 demonstrates the proportion of overall spend funded
by the Police Precept varies from 46.1% for Surrey to 12.2% for
Northumbria with an average of 31% for 2008-09. In comparison
Lincolnshire, at 38.1%, is 9th out of 41 Authorities ie it is
above average in terms of the contribution that Council Tax Payers
make to overall spending.
Figure 3
PROPORTION OF POLICE PRECEPT AND GRANT
Since 2001-02 the Authority has received specific support
along with other Rural Forces through the Rural Funding Grant.
This commenced at £1,979k in that year and in 2009-10 (although
encompassed as part of additional grant rule 2) stood at £2,189k.
This represents an increase over the eight year period of only
3.94%. If the grant had been increased at the same level as the
Police General Grant this would have resulted in an additional
£600k per annum in funding to the Authority.
November 2009
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