Making Lincolnshire Safe Force Strategy 2024-25 (HTML)

Foreword

It is a privilege to serve our diverse and vibrant communities in Lincolnshire as Chief Constable and I do not underestimate the responsibility that comes with it.

My ambition for policing in the county is to create an outstanding local police service, that is passionate about serving the public, caring for its people, and constantly improving how it protects our communities; working in partnership to secure a safe and resilient Lincolnshire. This dynamic annual plan for policing, which will be delivered in collaboration with the PCC, sets the roadmap for that, showing how we intend to deliver an effective and efficient police service that responds to the needs of communities while simultaneously delivering the best possible value for money.

I believe that if we get the foundations right and focus on supporting our staff, giving them clear direction and clarity about what is expected of them, we will deliver an exceptional standard of policing in Lincolnshire.

At the core of this is people – those who deliver policing and those who receive it. We will put people at the heart of all of our plans: ensuring our staff are the very best at what they do and that they reflect that in our communities. Our leadership and culture are integral to this, and we will continue to focus on maintaining the high expectations of professionalism, integrity and decency that are vital for all who work in policing. We will make sure that the people we serve in our communities are our primary focus and that they are allowed and able to hold us to account. The founding principle of policing by consent is precious, and we will work relentlessly to earn and keep the public’s trust. There must be an underpinning bond of trust between the police and the public, and we will focus on communicating, engaging, and building confidence with the public, minority communities, and victims of crime. I believe that greater transparency and accountability, along with our ongoing focus on culture, will be essential in achieving this. 

We will encourage innovation and continuous improvement, meaning we will continue to look for new and positive ways to deliver policing against an ongoing challenging financial landscape. Our thinking will revolve around what we can and already do well and being bold in trying different approaches.

As crime evolves, so will our response – swiftly and effectively. Effective investigations will be key to this, as will the use of data, because securing justice for those who have been impacted by any type of crime will always be one of our priorities. This plan also considers the fluid nature of the unique position we find ourselves here in Lincolnshire in terms of finance and resource, setting out a roadmap for spontaneous adaptation in order to keep the public safe.

Empathy and courage will underpin all that we do – in every contact with a vulnerable person, at the centre of every investigation, and in our tireless pursuit of justice. We will be humble and listen to all our communities, recognising the privileged position policing holds and how perceptions of the service itself and the fear of crime can have a deep personal impact on people.

Partnership work is also key, and combined efforts with the PCC, County Council, Local Authorities, and other organisations who share our vision of public service, will be instrumental in achieving our shared goals to maintain or improve standards of living across the county, with mutual benefits and economies of scale.

To be an outstanding police service we need to foster a ‘Team Lincolnshire’ shared vision and be better than the sum of its parts and to grow and improve, where outstanding performance comes from exceptional teamwork.

I am confident that with this powerful collegiate way of working, along with our current plans of innovation, investment and our greatest asset – our people – we are well equipped to achieve the priorities outlined in this plan.

Chief Constable Paul Gibson

Making Lincolnshire Safe

Ambition

To create an outstanding local police service, that is passionate about serving the public, caring for its people, and constantly improving how it protects our communities; working in partnership to secure a safe and resilient Lincolnshire.

Priorities 

1. Building confidence in policing
2. Delivering a thoughtful and effective service
3. Developing an inspirational culture and rapidly improving organisation
4. Securing fairer and sustainable funding

Aims

• Stop crime and anti-social behaviour
• Protect from harm
• Help those in need

Leadership

• Genuine support
• Clarity of direction
• High expectations

Values

Courage, openness, fairness, and inclusion are at the core of Lincolnshire Police. We are passionate and proud to serve our communities, and we value all our dedicated colleagues who seek to achieve and maintain the highest standards of policing for our county.

Priorities

1. Building confidence in policing

Areas of focus:

• Ensuring our Neighbourhood Policing is effective, engages creatively with communities and solves problems.
• Take a proactive approach to prevention, working in partnership, to ensure fewer victims, fewer offences and less demand on policing.
• Maximising our visibility and two-way communication with the public through proactive public relations.
• Enabling a representative, inclusive and supportive force that recognises, respects and understands the differences and needs of individuals and communities.
• Identify opportunities for collaborating within policing and with Lincolnshire partners, focusing on preventing harm.
• Continue to focus on rural crime and the prevention of harm to rural communities; frequently sharing updates and results.
• Expand the numbers and capabilities of policing volunteers, to maximise their contribution to policing and our connections with communities.
• To be graded as outstanding for Legitimacy by HMICFRS in 3 years.

2. Delivering a thoughtful and effective service

Areas of Focus:

• Improving our investigation capacity and quality to reach the right outcome in a timely manner.
• Ensuring effective offender management to bring perpetrators to justice and reduce the risk of harm.
• Providing excellent victim communication, care and support to build trust and confidence.
• Invest in front-line leaders, raising standards of supervisory oversight and the quality of operational delivery.
• Dealing with demand right first time; supported by technology that enables better decisions and increased efficiency.
• Introducing a series of operational initiatives to target high risk crimes as well as community issues that matter to the public.
• Delivery of the ‘Every Contact Counts’ initiative to promote a thoughtful approach to policing.

3. Developing an inspirational culture and rapidly improving organisation

Areas of Focus:

• Build a leadership culture that is founded on the three principles of ‘genuine support, clarity of direction and high expectation’.
• Embark on leadership development programmes for officers and staff, supported by the Chief Constable, that focus on clarifying priorities, enhancing culture & teamwork and promoting investment and problem-solving initiatives.
• Ensure a robust and supportive PDR that links force priorities, individual development, and healthy accountability for quality service delivery.
• Refreshed approach to formal and informal ways of celebrating success, ensuring everyone is acknowledged for the great work that they do.
• Ensuring a healthy, happy & engaged workforce by investing in staff wellbeing and promoting Lincolnshire Police as an employer of choice.
• Invest in attracting and developing skills for future policing requirements, utilising internship and apprenticeship programmes and by working with external education & development providers.
• Generate a productivity fund, to allow investment in initiatives identified by staff across the force, that promote productivity, efficiency, and enhanced performance.
• Rapidly transform our approach to digital policing, investing in technology to give greater insights into data, better manage demand and dramatically improve productivity.
• Better utilisation of business intelligence to allow effective performance management.
• Accelerate preparation for HMICFRS PEEL Inspection in 2024.

4. Securing fairer and sustainable funding

Areas of Focus:

• Refresh our evidence (with academic vigour and independence) to demonstrate and quantify the structural underfunding of Lincolnshire Police, compared to forces across England and Wales.
• Formulating a considered approach to identify savings requirements to balance the budget against the medium-term financial plan; articulate the implications for service delivery and likely impact on HMICFRS requirements.
• Working with the OPCC to embark on the future lobbying of the Home Office and Government for the funding formula review and/or a fair settlement for the delivery of policing to Lincolnshire communities. 

Assurance framework

Risk registers are a key tool in providing assurance to the Force and to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) that risks are being managed effectively. Assurance is achieved through the regular and continued review of the Force Risk Register at the Risk Management Board, and the Joint Independent Audit Committee.

The Force maintains a comprehensive and effective assurance map, a structured means of identifying and mapping the main sources and types of assurance.

The map provides a dashboard view of assurance levels, which assesses areas against the CIPFA Delivering Good Governance in Local Government Framework.

The assurance map will be reviewed and updated on a bi-annual basis.

As part of the joint audit regime with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) we are audited by external auditors e.g. Mazaars, to ensure that the risk management process is effective and robust. The results of
such audits are reported to the Joint Independent Audit Committee (JIAC).

Operational performance framework

We have revised our performance framework to look for exceptions, based on trends in performance, including a comparison to pre-covid baselines, as well as an assessment of our position nationally or with our Most Similar Group (MSG) of forces, where applicable.

Our framework covers the following areas of business;

• Responding to the Public
• Crime & Incidents
• Neighbourhood Crime
• Violence & Serious Harm
• Violence Against Women & Girls
• Vulnerability
• Serious & Organised Crime
• Managing Offenders
• Investigations
• Victim Satisfaction & Confidence

The framework acknowledges our contribution to the Governments Beating Crime Plan, which has three key areas of focus;

• Cutting Homicide, Serious Violence & Neighbourhood Crime
• Exposing and ending hidden harms and prosecuting perpetrators
• Building capacity and capability to deal with fraud and online crime

The Digital Crime Performance Pack (DCPP) assesses our performance against the National Plan.

Performance priorities

• Maintain emergency call-handling performance
• Improve nonemergency call-handling performance
• Reduce mental health demand on policing
• Reduce crime and harm through prevention
• Reduce anti-social behaviour
• Understand and reduce violence – domestic abuse and serious violence (firearms and knife crime)
• Understand and reduce neighbourhood crime – residential burglary, vehicle crime, robbery of personal property and theft from the person
• Reduce our high harm and repeat locations, victims and offenders through problem solving
• Reduce those killed and seriously injured on our roads
• Deny criminals the use of the road
• Reduce rural crime
• Increase hate crime reporting
• Reduce reoffending
• Improve file quality
• Improve our outcomes for victims
• Improve our outcomes for women and girls (VAWG)
• Improve our use of ancillary orders (prevention)
• Improving victim satisfaction (crime and anti-social behaviour)
• Improve confidence in policing (baseline)
• Develop our understanding of organisational demand

Resources - Workforce split: Police officers

Police officer establishment

Department	Full time establishment
Local Policing	645
Crime	333
Central Operations	161
HQ	51
Total	1190

The majority of our police officer establishment is allocated to local response, as having police officers there when you need them is a key priority.

Breakdown

Department	Full time establishment
Local Policing - Response	444
Local Policing - Neighbourhoods	78
Local Policing - Response Investigation Team	96
Local Policing - Other	9
Local Policing - Custody	18
Central Operations - Serious Collisions Unit	20
Central Operations - Armed Response	50
Central Operations - Roads Policing Unit	20
Central Operations - Rural Crime Team	8
Central Operations - Other	63
Crime - Intelligence	76
Crime - Criminal Justice	4
Crime - Protecting Vulnerable People	111
Crime - CID	85
Crime - EMSOU	56
Crime - Other	1
HQ	51
Total	1190

Resources - Workforce split: Police staff

 

Department	Full time establishment
Central Operations	245.22
Crime	307.85
Finance and Corporate Services	122.95
HQ - Strategic Development	114.20
IT Digital Data and Technology*	137.18
Local Policing	1
People Services	98.28
PCSO	50
Total	1076.68

Breakdown

Department	Full time establishment
Central Operations - Force Control Room	187.81
Central Operations - Other	57.41
Crime - Intelligence	95.17
Crime - Criminal Justice	115.67
Crime - Protecting Vulnerable People	59.38
Crime - EMSOU	36.63
Crime - Other	1
Finance and Corporate Services	122.95
HQ - Strategic Development	42.02
HQ - Corporate Communications	13.72
HQ - Partnerships	18.31
HQ - Professional Standards	17
HQ - Other	23.15
IT Digital Data and Technology*	137.18
Local Policing	1
People Services	98.28
PCSO	50
Total	1076.68

Resources - Finance: Medium-term financial plan (MTFP)

The latest grant settlement awarded the Force a helpful uplift but means that the Force’s budget for the current year had an underlying gap of £9.2m, offset by using reserves.

This underlying gap grows to circa £17m per year over the next three years as income remains well below the prevailing rate of inflation and service pressures.

Income

Income	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m	2027/28 £m
Police Grant	(71.578)	(75.854)	(75.854)	(75.854)	(75.854)
Pension Top Up Grant	(1.175)	(3.601)	(3.601)	(3.601)	(3.601)
National Funding Uplift	(2.287)	(3.535)	(3.535)	(3.535)	(3.535)
Council Tax Compensation Grant	(1.059)	(1.059)	(1.059)	(1.059)	(1.059)
Council Tax Support Grant	(5.775)	(5.775)	(5.775)	(5.775)	(5.775)
Council Tax Precept	(70.794)	(74.820)	(76.298)	(78.213)	(80.176)
Victim Services Grant	(1.456)	(1.547)	(1.547)	(1.547)	(1.547)
Proceeds of Crime Income	(0.120)	(0.120)	(0.120)	(0.120)	(0.120)
PCC Regional Income	(0.114)	(0.131)	(0.131)	(0.131)	(0.131)
Serious Violence Duty Grant	-	(0.358)	-	-	-
Hotspot Policing Grant	-	(1.000)	-	-	-
Safer Streets Grant	-	(0.355)	-	-	-
Application of Earmarked Reserves	(0.207)	(0.794)	-	-	-
Reserves Budget Balancing	(6.176)	(9.199)	-	-	-
Total Income	(160.740)	(178.147)	(167.919)	(169.834)	(171.797)

Expenditure

Expenditure	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m	2027/28 £m
Police and Crime Commissioner	11.910	15.008	14.971	16.623	16.785
Chief Constable	146.141	160.166	163.826	166.251	168.756
Joint Services	2.689	2.973	3.146	3.262	3.273
Total Expenditure	160.740	178.147	181.943	186.136	188.814

Budget gap

Budget gap	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m	2027/28 £m
Budget gap	-	-	14.024	16.302	17.017

Resources - Finance: Capital programme

The capital programme ensures that future capital investment is targeted towards meeting our strategic objectives. It also recognises that financial resources available for capital expenditure are limited in the current economic and political climate.

Key priorities include:

• Making best use of estates with more energy efficient solutions to reduce costs & CO2 emissions.
• Investing in fleet, including some electric vehicles, to meet operational requirements.
• Harnessing IT technology to improve management & reporting of data, whilst supporting a better connected, efficient & agile workforce.

Capital schemes

Capital schemes	2023/24 Revised approved programme £m	2024/25 Proposed Programme £m	2025/26 Proposed Programme £m	2026/27 Proposed Programme £m	2027/28 Proposed Programme £m
Building maintenance/improvements	2.169	2.281	1.600	1.600	1.600
Occupational Health Unit Relocation	0.480	0.900	-	-	-
HQ Gym Upgrade	-	-	-	-	-
Vehicle replacement	3.017	3.219	2.036	1.556	1.319
Digital Data and Technology	6.351	7.178	1.981	2.341	0.468
Command and Control	0.815	2.078	-	-	-
Unify Telephony Upgrade (2022/23)	0.481	-	-	-	-
ESMCP	0.055	-	4.176	-	-
Equipment replacement	0.386	0.250	0.250	0.250	0.250
ANPR	-	0.420	0.150	-	-
Other	0.319	-	-	-	-
Total Income	14.073	16.326	10.193	5.747	3.637

Funding

Funding	2023/24 Revised approved programme £m	2024/25 Proposed Programme £m	2025/26 Proposed Programme £m	2026/27 Proposed Programme £m	2027/28 Proposed Programme £m
Capital Receipts	3.310	3.320	0.070	0.070	0.070
Capital Grants Unapplied - ESMCP 0.170	-	-	0.170	-	-
Capital Grants Unapplied - LED	0.225	0.297	-	-	-
Borrowing - General	9.784	12.709	9.953	5.677	3.567
LRSP Partner Contribution	0.754	-	-	-	-
Total	14.073	16.326	10.193	5.747	3.637

Reources - Value for money profile: Headlines

In the period 2023/24, Lincolnshire Police received the lowest amount of funding (£ per population) at £192.41

• £91.30 from Council Tax Precept Income
• £92.30 Police Grant
• £8.81 Legacy Council Tax Grants

Compared with all Forces, Lincolnshire Police has one of the lowest number of Full Time Employed Police Officers, at 1.51 FTE per 1000 people.

Police Officer:
Lincolnshire 1.51
MSG 1.99
All Force 2.29

Police Staff:
Lincolnshire 1.09
MSG 1.34
All Force 1.33

Community Support Officer:
Lincolnshire 0.11
MSG 0.12
All Force 0.15

Total:
Lincolnshire 2.72
MSG 3.45
All Force 3.78

Lincolnshire Police are the 14th lowest force for crime with 72.5 crimes per 1000 population. This is higher than the MSG average at 66.97 crimes per 1000 people. However, lower than the national average of 91.2 crimes per 1000 people.

Governance and delivery

People

Deliverables 24/25

• Commit to developing processes in line with the standards set out by Carers UK to recognise the needs of our paid and unpaid carers in the workforce
• Develop and implement the new Police Constable Entry Programme as the force entry route into policing
•  Development and implementation of retention strategies including benefits and salary sacrifice as an employer of choice
• Procure and implement an e-recruitment system and complete a review of recruitment practices
• Retain our Police Officer uplift numbers
• Refine the provision of psychological support options for officers and staff requiring treatment and intervention
• Procure services for neurodiverse clinical indicators, work-based assessments and employer recommendations
• Develop and implement Intelligence Professionalisation Programme (IPP) into Crime
• Develop opportunities for Continued Professional Development (CPD) for officers and staff across the Force for all ranks and roles
• Develop and implement fast track schemes for PC to Inspector and Inspector to Superintendent
• Develop the new Public and Personal Safety Training (PPST) which launched on 1 April 2024
• Procure, develop and launch psychological education toolkits and pathways for leaders and colleagues across the force
• As a test force work with the College of Policing to trial the reformed Sergeants and Inspector Promotion Process (SIPP)
• Develop Attraction Strategies - Focus on internal and external recruitment and attraction strategies to build a workforce which is diverse and representative in all areas
• Development of Strategic Workforce Plans - specifically to account for deployable resources (student officers) against budgeted establishment to enhance deployable numbers
• Improve our Citizens in Policing offering, ensuring we maximise our connections with communities and develop opportunities, in line with Force values

Communities and partners

Deliverables 24/25

• Deliver a sustained campaign for preventative policing with the public and partners, including greater use of the Prevention Hub
• We will work with our communities to make them more resilient, particularly against fraud, by targeted communication and initiatives
• We will identify the best two-way communication channels to engage effectively with our communities
• Develop an understanding of the needs of our communities, utilising available partnership data
• Devise effective prevention activities based on those victims, locations and offenders with the highest levels of harm
• Strengthen partnerships and safer together working arrangements by identifying and securing increased funding opportunities
• Delivery of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan and transition into business as usual
• Evaluate and seek out opportunities for improvement of existing and new partnerships
• Review the delivery of the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) and seek appropriate governance for business as usual activities
• Embed a preventative mindset across the organisation
• Ensure timely and quality investigations for local communities

Culture

Deliverables 24/25

• Delivery of work package to address poor performance
• Deliver vetting action plan and new Authorised Professional Practice (APP)
• Embed the new Code of Ethics across the force, accompanied by a communication strategy which details how we live the ethical principles in practice
• Develop and implement an input on culture to new Officer recruits, transferees and police staff as part of the induction process
• Increase the representation of cultural advocates across all departments within the force
• Develop and implement a revised force Hate Crime strategy
• Develop and implement the 2024-27 Cultural strategy
• Develop and implement a programme of work, “what you do matters” to engender greater cohesion across teams and enhance understanding of each others roles
• Develop and implement an input on culture to our emerging leaders via First Line Leaders (FLL) or Lead, Engage and Develop (LEAD) programmes
• Develop and implement a revised reward and recognition programme
• Delivery of “every contact counts”, delivering a citizen experience based on our values and principles of care

Capability

Deliverables 24/25

• Deliver the revised Out of Court Resolution framework
• Optimise Business Intelligence tool to support performance
• Develop the force Continuous Improvement framework including Evidence Based Policing
• Prepare for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation and system optimisation
• Improve Investigation Standards
• Implement best practice in line with Productivity Review findings
• Implement RVR – Rapid Video Response for Domestic Abuse and consider opportunities for expansion
• Embed Op Soteria – best practice for Rape Investigations
• Explore capability of facial recognition
• Deliver enhanced drone capability
• Deliver Target Operating Model Recommendations
• Complete implementation of Right Care, Right Person
• Deliver revised EMSOU operating model

Capability: Estates and Fleet

Deliverables 24/25

• Commence scoping a replacement facilities management system including compliance record management, increased helpdesk functionality and end user integration
• Develop a Sustainability Strategy and Delivery Plan
• Upgrade Fleet Management system
• Provision of Telematics Driver Behaviour data to influence Force driving standards
• Review and report on Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging infrastructure requirements in conjunction with Estates Manager and confirm future requirements
• Assess impact of 2035 target when no further petrol / diesel vehicles can be procured
• Maximise pooling of vehicles to improve utilisation and reduce grey fleet usage
• Complete sale of West Parade site

Capability: Digital and data

Deliverables 24/25

• Complete implementation of Public Contact Management for the Force Control Room and Town Enquiry Offices
• Complete implementation of Unified Telephony solution to track and manage incoming calls from the public through their whole journey, introducing Call Recording quality management and re-platforming
• Build MS 365 Power Platform and introduce governance, guidance, and support in use for MS Power tools
• Update Workforce Management System and transition to SQL Database
• Test Cyber Incident Response and Cyber Security Awareness (Response plan, Awareness Raising & Training)
• Develop and manage M365 User Policy and Training to improve force wide digital capabilities and data compliance
• Replace and update Smart Secure Lockers solution
• Design and upgrade for Air Gapped Digital Forensics Unit Servers and Segregated Network ensuring compliance
• Ongoing upgrade of IT Security (Firewall)
• Develop our cloud based infrastructure

Connectivity with the Police and Crime Plan

Community safety and prevention in partnership

Communities and partners

• Deliver a sustained campaign for preventative policing with the public and partners, including greater use of the Prevention Hub
• Devise effective prevention activities based on those victims, locations and offenders with the highest levels of harm
• Evaluate and seek out opportunities for improvement of existing and new partnerships

Protecting and supporting victims and the vulnerable

Communities and partners

• Delivery of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) action plan and transition into business as usual
• We will work with our communities to make them more resilient, particularly against fraud, by targeted communication and initiatives
• Ensure timely and quality investigations for local communities

Capability

• Develop and embed out of court disposal framework including diversion pathways
• Embed Op Soteria
• Implement Rapid Video Response (RVR) for domestic abuse
• Deliver enhanced drone capability

Listening, responding and being accountable

Communities and partners

• Develop an understanding of the needs of our communities, utilising available partnership data
• We will identify the best two-way communication channels to engage effectively with our communities

Culture

• Delivery of “every contact counts”, delivering a citizen experience based on our values and principles of care
• Embed the new Code of Ethics across the force, accompanied by a communication strategy which details how we live the ethical principles in practice

Policing that works

Capability

• Explore capability of facial recognition
• Deliver Target Operating Model Recommendations
• Optimise Business Intelligence tool to support performance
• Develop the force Continuous Improvement framework including Evidence Based Policing
• Prepare for ERP implementation and system optimisation
• Develop Sustainability Strategy and Delivery Plan