Finances and Resources
I worked closely with the Chief Constable and his senior leadership team to understand the operational needs of Lancashire Constabulary for the year ahead and the financial pressures on the Constabulary. Revenue Budget The 2022/23 revenue budget for was set at £338.243m in February 2022. The position at 31 March 2023 is set out here:
| Budget (£m) | Spend (£m) | Variance (£m) | Difference (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay costs | 266.551 | 264.155 | 2.396 | -0.90% |
| ACC Territorial Operations | 7.294 | 9.171 | 1.877 | 25.73% |
| ACC Crime | 3.416 | 3.947 | 0.531 | 15.54% |
| ACC People and Specialist Uniform Operations | 5.168 | 5.084 | 0.084 | -1.62% |
| Director of Resources | 29.412 | 29.057 | 0.355 | -1.21% |
| Deputy Chief Constable | 3.500 | 4.517 | 1.017 | 6.00% |
| Sub total | 313.227 | 312.833 | 0.393 | -0.13% |
| Non-DFM budget | 15.174 | 12.836 | 2.338 | 15.41% |
| Total Constabulary Budget | 328.401 | 325.669 | 2.731 | -0.83% |
| Budget (£m) | Spend (£m) | Variance (£m) | Difference (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of the PCC | 1.489 | 1.544 | 0.055 | 3.71% |
| Communications | 0.138 | 0.162 | 0.024 | 17.15% |
| Fighting Crime | 0.740 | 0.596 | 0.144 | -19.46% |
| Victim and Domestic Abuse services | 0.573 | 0.510 | 0.063 | -10.96% |
| Sub total | 2.940 | 2.812 | 0.128 | -4.35% |
| Non-DFM | 6.902 | 5.672 | 1.230 | -17.82% |
| Total PCC | 8.203 | 6.903 | 1.300 | -15.8% |
| Total Budget | 319.391 | 319.391 | 0.000 | 0% |
| £ | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Local Policing | 98.584 | 29.15% |
| Dealing with the public | 24.353 | 7.20% |
| Criminal Justice arrangements | 18.989 | 5.61% |
| Road Policing | 10.583 | 3.13% |
| Operational Support | 14.090 | 4.17% |
| Intelligence | 10.203 | 3.02% |
| Investigations | 33.970 | 10.04% |
| Investigative Support | 9.400 | 2.78% |
| National Policing | 1.868 | 0.55% |
| Support Functions | 70.199 | 20.75% |
| PCC | 3.061 | 0.91% |
| Corporate Costs | 14.818 | 4.38% |
| Public Protection | 28.125 | 8.32% |
| Total: | 338.243 |
| £ | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Government Grant | 230.767m | 68% |
| Council Tax | 107.476m | 32% |
| Income | 338.242m |
A total of £15.079m has been spent on capital projects in this year:
| £m | |
|---|---|
| IT Strategy | 6.973 |
| Estate | 4.343 |
| Vehicle Replacement Programme | 3.093 |
| Other schemes | 0.670 |
| Total: | 15.079 |
The main elements of this spend are:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| I.T. Strategy | |
| Network Access and Security | £0.697m |
| Device upgrade and replacement | £3.681m |
| System replacement | £2.595m |
| Estate | |
| Critical Policing Infrastructure Programme | £1.501m |
| Skelmersdale Station refurbishment | £0.210m |
| Solar Panel installation | £0.303m |
| Bamber Bridge – ISO accreditation requirement | £1.268m |
| Minor works programme | £0.917m |
| Other Schemes | |
| Replacement of specialist equipment | £0.396m |
| Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment and infrastructure | £0.162m |
| Average speed cameras | £0.183m |
| Regional collaborations | £0.119m |
Lancaster BID – Tackling ASB in Lancaster City Centre
Lancaster Business Improvement District (BID) were given £10,000 to extend the hours of the City’s BID Warden, who patrols the streets, liaises with local business in the City Centre and helps address local concerns such as business crime and anti-social behaviour.
By extending the hours coverage from 37.5 to 52.5 hours a week, the Warden is now able to address the issues that had been identified by talking to businesses and the public, during later hours between 6pm and 9pm.
This has supported local police in providing a way for escalation of issues to be avoided, intelligence gathering and identifying of concerns.
Tony Johnson, Lancaster BID Manager:
“We are extremely grateful to him for picking our project through the Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund as it has enabled us to have our BID Warden 52.5 hours a week instead of the 37.5 hours.
“We identified last year that a lot of the ASB going on across the city was happening between 1800-2100, this was usually when our warden had finished for the day.
“The extra hours for our warden not only gives our businesses peace of mind, it also acts as a security blanket for the general public as well.”
Uplift Programme
More than 600 additional police officers joined Lancashire Constabulary within the last four years, exceeding the Police Uplift recruitment to recruit 509 additional officers set by the government.
These new recruits take our police officer headcount to 3,587, as at 31st March 2023, who serve the 1.5 million people living in the diverse communities of Lancashire. I am particularly proud that we are the only force to have recruited more female officers and have also increased representation from black and minority ethnicities.
It represents an exciting time for policing in Lancashire as more and more officers gain the knowledge and experience to make a real difference in the fight against crime across the county, with visible, community focused policing making people and the communities they live and work in safer.
Precept
The backdrop of inflation, pay, utilities and fuel costs all rising has been challenging for budget setting. 2022/23 has been a difficult time for Lancashire residents and this is also reflected in financing our police service. However, in setting the budget a multimillion-pound programme of efficiency savings will be delivered to protect front line policing and reduce the potential burden on taxpayers.
86% of residents who responded to my budget proposals survey wanted to see Lancashire Constabulary receive more funding. Every penny of the 6.34% rise in council tax precept for 2023/24 – equivalent to 29p a week for a Band D property (19p per week for a Band A property) – will be spent to ensure that frontline policing is protected to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour.
My budget decision will allow Lancashire Constabulary to continue to deliver on your priorities, increase visible policing and invest in critical infrastructure to take the fight to criminals and keep Lancashire safe.
Grant Funding
Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund Announced as part of my Fighting Crime Plan and officially launched to applicants Spring 2021, the Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund (SLNF) has been investing into projects that deter and tackle crime, supporting community organisations and partners in making Lancashire safer and allowing Lancashire Constabulary to deliver innovative, new ways of taking the fight to criminals.
The three strands that make up the Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund are:
- Community Fund
- Police Innovation Fund
- ‘Fighting Crime’
Grants Community
Fund In 2022/23 the Safer Lancashire Neighbourhood Community Fund received 92 applications with 31 organisations being successful totalling £206,862.25.
The aim of the Community Fund is to support smaller organisations and community groups in delivering projects and improvements within their communities, using money that has in part been seized from criminals.
It is estimated the 31 projects funded will directly work with over 13,582 individuals across Lancashire including over 3080 young people and 130 Adults. However, many more people across Lancashire will have been positively impacted both directly and indirectly for example projects that made communities feel safer, improving public confidence.
Police Innovation Fund
Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Police Innovation Fund received 36 applications.
The Commissioner supported 11 initiatives totalling £283,035.69.
Fighting Crime Grant
£141K was provided to Lancashire Constabulary to support five policing operations: Easter Bank Holiday, Jubilee Weekend, August Bank Holiday, Bonfire Weekend and the festive season.
Funding supported an enhanced police presence in the Night Time Economy and enhanced community engagement in neighbourhoods to address ASB.
Overall, the Commissioner’s funding supported Lancashire Constabulary to respond to 5,379 incidents that resulted in 595 arrests.
As I support and visit projects, it is great to see the positive work happening to make Lancashire safer, through diversionary activity, enhanced policing operations and projects, investment in infrastructure such as CCTV or road safety measures to just name a few.
It is also a poetic irony that we are achieving this positive change within the county, by using the ill-gotten gains of criminals we have seized, investing them back into the areas they have exploited, tackling the root causes of crimes.
Bacup Family Centre (Solutions – Community Youth Project) Rossendale
Bacup Family Centre were awarded £10,000 towards their Solutions – Community Youth Project.
Following repeated issues raised at Rossendale’s multi agency ASB meeting, Bacup Family Centre developed the Community Youth Project. Bacup Family Centre work with vulnerable young people causing or at risk of getting involved in crime and anti-social behaviour. The project provides young people access to a dedicated youth space for several days and evenings per week.
Police in the Rossendale area have opened a new office within the community centre with the aim to improve engagement opportunities with partners, the public and youths. They also have established dedicated daily ASB patrols targeting hotspot areas, making use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Community Protection Notice and Warnings.
An average of 25 young people have been attending each session, and 79 have been engaged with in total. Bacup Family Centre have regular contact with around 30-40 of these young people per week. Further funding had been acquired from CCG funding streams which allowed for 12 of the young people to be referred into the free dance lessons.
A further application was received by Bacup Natural History Museum who link in with the Family centre and provide activities for identified young people. The Museum have received funding towards the installation of CCTV to enable them to effectively capture Anti-Social Behaviour and other crime following on from incidents relating to young people who now attend the Solutions Project. They were identified as causing nuisance on the grounds of the Museum.
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Comment
What you have to say is important to us. If you would like to comment on the work of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire you can write to:
The Office of the PCC for Lancashire
County Hall Preston
PR1 0LD
Email: commissioner@lancashire-pcc.gov.uk
