Police and Crime Commissioner puts judicial review over "unfair" Home Office funding formula on hold
Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has suspended a judicial review challenge over the Home Office’s police funding formula after the Government department agreed to hand Lincolnshire Police £5.7m in short term funding.
Marc Jones had launched the challenge against the previous Conservative Government over how the Home Office calculates and allocates funds to police forces across England and Wales.
In October 2024, he claimed the ‘police allocation formula’, which was first implemented in 2013, is out of date and unfairly penalises Lincolnshire Police.
Jones pointed to figures from the Police Foundation that showed Lincolnshire received funding of £196 per head, compared to £246 in Humberside and £221 in Norfolk.
If Lincolnshire received the same per head funding as Humberside, it would bring in an additional £38m, or Norfolk an extra £19m, he said.
The High Court gave permission for the judicial review challenge in March and a hearing was scheduled to take place in June.
However, it has since emerged that the PCC has halted the legal challenge in order to allow talks regarding funding for Lincolnshire Police to take place.
The move comes as the Home Office agreed to provide a short term funding package to Lincolnshire Police worth £5.7m.
Commenting on the short-term funding, Jones said: “This is very welcome news for communities across Lincolnshire and I am delighted that the minister and her officials have listened to our concerns and reacted positively.
“This funding package is certainly going to stave off the worst of the cuts facing Lincolnshire Police in the short term and give the Chief Constable and I more time to address the long-term funding issues.
“I am not complacent though. This package is exceptionally positive but there is still much work to be done to ensure Lincolnshire Police is providing the most effective service possible for the funding we do have available.”
He added: “There is much to be done to solve the funding issues for the long term and I would not want the public misled into thinking this matter is resolved or that the latest government announcement on ‘additional’ neighbourhood policing will change anything for us, it won’t.”
Adam Carey