A police force’s ability to investigate major crimes and monitor sex offenders would be impaired severely if ministers carry out their threat to cap its spending, a chief constable said yesterday.

Tony Lake, Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, told The Times that his force was in a “desperate financial situation” and received the lowest level of government funding in the country.

“Our capability will become more and more stretched,” Mr Lake said. “My officers perform Herculean tasks and have achieved some really good results. But our ability to do all the things that the Home Office wants us to do will be impaired if we are capped.”

Mr Lake’s concerns echoed views expressed privately by other police chiefs threatened with capping. Seven forces could have their budgets cut, but Lincolnshire is the Government’s first target, after the policing element of council tax was raised by 78.9 per cent, equivalent to a £235 a year rise for a household in band D. The local police authority said that the rise was needed because the force was £7 million in debt as a result of years of underfunding by the Home Office and low levels of council tax.

Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Norfolk and Surrey announced police precept rises above 5 per cent and have also been threatened with capping by John Healey, the Minister for Local Government.

There is anger among the threatened forces because the cuts would be imposed by the Department for Communities and Local Government, which has no responsibility for policing.

All the forces say the tax rises are needed to meet Home Office demands that they devote more resources to neighbourhood policing, counter-terrorism and organised crime.

Mark Rowley, the acting Chief Constable of Surrey, said that his Home Office funding did not recognise that 50 per cent of crime in the county was committed by criminals from outside the force area.

Mr Lake said that if capping were imposed, his force would have to shrink. “I’ve got officers doing three jobs at once, not just double-hatting but triple-hatting,” he said. “Capping would mean that our ability to deal with cold case review, sex offenders and major casework will be impaired.

“If we get a murder, or a double murder as we had in 2006, then that wipes out our detective capability for quite some time.

“We know our resilience is finite. We want to do neighbourhood policing to the standard required. But we face the real prospect that, if we have to balance our books along the lines suggested by capping, the size of Lincolnshire police will contract.” Mr Lake said that support staff would have to be laid off and police officers would have to take on more backroom jobs.

All the forces facing capping will be given the opportunity to present their arguments to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Lake said: “I’m looking forward to meeting the DCLG. We are absolutely convinced about the validity of our case. Our books have been pored over by consultants and there is no overspend or huge inefficiency. We are one of the most efficient forces in the country.”

The thin blue line

£9.2bn Home Office grant to police for 2008-09

139,710 police officers in September 2007

15,391 police community support officers

Source: Home Office

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