FINANCES AND RESOURCES
The Commissioner’s has worked closely with the Chief Constable and his senior leadership team to understand the operational needs and financial pressures of Lancashire Constabulary for the year ahead. Revenue Budget The 2023/24 revenue budget for was set at £356m in February 2023. The position at 31 March 2024 is set out here:
| Budget (£m) | Spend (£m) | Variance (£m) | Difference (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay costs | 283.310 | 283.956 | 0.646 | 0.23 |
| ACC Territorial Operations | 7.679 | 8.251 | 0.572 | 7.45 |
| ACC Crime | 3.582 | 4.196 | 0.614 | 17.14 |
| ACC People and Specialist Uniform Operations | 4.886 | 5.108 | 0.222 | 4.54 |
| Chief Operating Officer | 32.834 | 31.704 | -1.130 | -3.44 |
| Deputy Chief Constable | 1.363 | 1.544 | 0.181 | 13.28 |
| Sub total | 333.654 | 334.765 | 1.105 | 0.33 |
| Non-DFM budget | 9.295 | 7.550 | -1.745 | -18.77 |
| Total Constabulary Budget | 342.949 | 342.309 | -0.640 | -0.19 |
| Budget (£m) | Spend (£m) | Variance (£m) | Difference (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of the PCC | 1.621 | 1.592 | -0.029 | -1.79 |
| Communications | 0.126 | 0.129 | 0.003 | 2.38 |
| Fighting Crime | 0.739 | 0.779 | 0.040 | 5.41 |
| Victim and Domestic Abuse services | 0.560 | 0.560 | 0 | 0 |
| Sub total | 3.046 | 3.060 | 0.014 | 0.46 |
| Non-DFM | 9.933 | 9.603 | -0.330 | -3.32 |
| Total PCC | 12.979 | 12.663 | -0.316 | -2.43 |
| Total Budget | 355.928 | 354.972 | -0.956 | -0.27 |
| £ | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Government Grant | 239,926,527 | 67% |
| Council Tax | 116,001,208 | 33% |
| Income | 338.242m |
A total of £18.768m has been spent on capital projects in this year:
| £m | |
|---|---|
| IT Strategy | 5.610 |
| Estate | 5.897 |
| Vehicle Replacement Programme | 6.863 |
| Other schemes | 0.398 |
| Total: | 18.768 |
| % | |
|---|---|
| Local Policing | 25.03% |
| Dealing with the public | 6.90% |
| Criminal Justice arrangements | 4.78% |
| Road Policing | 2.70% |
| Operational Support | 3.71% |
| Intelligence | 2.64% |
| Investigations | 9.61% |
| Investigative Support | 2.65% |
| National Policing | 0.50% |
| Support Functions | 19.18% |
| PCC | 0.43% |
| Corporate Costs | 3.00% |
| Public Protection | 7.77% |
The main elements of this spend are:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| I.T. Strategy | |
| Network Access and Security | £0.826m |
| Device upgrade and replacement | £1.608m |
| System replacement | £3.176m |
| Estate | |
| Chorley police station | £3.623m |
| Pendle police station | £1.426m |
| Other Schemes | |
| Replacement of specialist equipment | £0.125m |
| Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment and infrastructure | £0.154m |
| Regional collaborations | £0.119m |
Police Uplift Programme
In 2023/24 30 additional police officers were recruited into Lancashire Constabulary. Since 2019, 612 additional police officers have been recruited, exceeding a target of 509 additional officers set by the government.
The new recruits take the police officer headcount to 3,616, who serve the 1.5 million people living in the diverse communities of Lancashire.
Precept
The Commissioner’s plan to recruit 60 more police officers for neighbourhood teams has been approved following cross-party support from both Conservative and Labour Councillors for his budget proposals. These extra officers will further bolster the frontline, with the first 20 being recruited in the next financial year and the rest in the following two years.
The police element of council tax will rise by £11.95 a year, 4.75%, which is lower than the precept maximum allowed of over 5%. This is on top of c£19million in additional government support since last year’s budget to help meet funding pressures relating to inflation and the 7% pay rise for police officers and staff awarded by the government this year.
In the coming year, the investments announced will include:
- £400,000 to target dangerous driving.
- £1million to recruit an additional officers for Neighbourhood Policing Teams across the county. £450,000 to support the delivery of anti-social behaviour hotspot patrols.
- £204,000 to pay for extra officers in the digital investigations team.
- £185,000 for new economic crime investigators; and
- £751,000 for investment in information technology.
- £2million for investment in digital and fleet capabilities.
- The Commissioner will also deliver a savings programme of £8million to ensure the frontline is protected and the force is as efficient as it can be.