Lincolnshire Police Placed Under Enhanced Monitoring Following “Significant Service Failures”

Lincolnshire Police has been moved to an enhanced level of monitoring by the police inspectorate. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) indicated this action was taken in response to “significant service failures.” Inspectors specifically highlighted concerns regarding attendance times for calls and the force’s management of registered sex offenders. Chief Constable Paul Gibson stated he was “confident that the areas of improvement that are within our control will be delivered.” HMICFRS has communicated to the force that it needs to: * Attend calls for service in line with its published target attendance times. * Improve how it allocates, supervises and carries out investigations to make sure victims get the support they need. * Make sure that it has the capacity and capability to manage the risks posed to the public by registered sex offenders. * Improve its understanding of demand. * Have adequate strategic plans in place. Roy Wilsher from HMICFRS commented that the enhanced monitoring would provide “additional scrutiny and support from the inspectorate and other external organisations in the policing sector to help the force improve and provide a better service for the public.” The force has been asked to urgently produce an improvement plan and will meet regularly with inspectors. “We will work closely with the force to monitor its progress against these important and necessary changes,” Wilsher added. Mr Gibson remarked that the announcement “needs to be seen in the context of being the lowest funded force in the country.” He stated, “I welcome this independent scrutiny.” He further noted, “There are several areas that I don’t accept are fully accurate, but there are others where I agree that, frankly, we need to do better.” He also added: “The letter is clear regarding the low funding base for Lincolnshire Police and many of the themes that run through the findings have a clear root cause: a lack of capacity, resource, and the need to rely on overtime to allow services to be delivered.” He continued: “The choice is clear: fair funding and resourcing urgently or an even greater decline in service. That is the simple choice and the public of Lincolnshire deserve better.” Despite the festive decorations still present in the chief constable’s office, today’s report threatens to diminish the force’s reputation. Nevertheless, Paul Gibson firmly believes he has a response to the inspectors’ considerable criticism. Speaking calmly and slowly, he repeatedly attributed the blame for the damning report to what he describes as the chronic underfunding of Lincolnshire Police over many years. He asserts that inspectors measure against a ‘gold standard’ which he believes cannot be achieved when Lincolnshire has 1,000 fewer officers compared with forces serving similar populations. His strategy is clear: the criticism, which many other forces might prefer to downplay, can and should be utilized as a megaphone for the ongoing campaign for “fairer funding” for Lincolnshire. This approach could be risky. When asked why the government should provide more money, especially given a report that also criticizes his force’s financial planning, offering a potential excuse not to, he simply believes they can and must.