Lincolnshire has faced a “perfect storm” of funding problems which has led to its police force , the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said. A 20-year-old way of allocating money plus changing expectations of has dramatically stretched the force’s budget.

PCC Marc Jones is appealing to the to change the way forces are funded, and take another look at what officers should be doing. He argues that the current formula doesn’t take into account that 750,000 residents are spread over a vast area.

It factors in statistics like the number of pubs – which tends to benefit cities – but not the miles of road. The current police funding formula was established more than 20 years ago under New Labour, which shifted funding from rural to urban areas.

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