Lincolnshire Police ranked lowest performing police force in the country

The force was given the ‘Level Three’ rating after His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue (HMICFRS), found "widespread concerns or serious performance issues".

HMICFRS says that being placed at Level Three of the new tiered structure means the force will now “receive additional support so it can make progress against its outstanding causes of concern”.

There are four levels escalating from Level One to Level Four (Special Measures) – with all other police forces in England and Wales receiving a Level One of Level Two placement.

Neighbouring police forces - Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Leicestershire, Norfolk and Humberside Police - were all ranked Level One.

"We will assign a force to Level Three if we identify more serious or systemic performance issues,” HMICFRS says. “These may be critical or enduring problems, widespread concerns or a lack of sustained progress. The aim is to help the force achieve sustained and measurable improvement.”

In response, Lincolnshire Police, which has repeatedly voiced concerns about what it calls a “chronic lack of funding”, has also outlined a three-year “transformation plan”.

A force spokesperson said: “Forces in Level Three will receive targeted support and intervention from the performance system, and Chief Constables will develop improvement plans.”

Chief Constable Paul Gibson commented: “We continue to engage with HMICFRS colleagues, and of course those in other regulatory organisations, to ensure we are delivering change and improvements against the Causes of Concern that were identified as part of our PEEL inspection in 20204. This is to ensure that we are providing communities in Lincolnshire policing that keeps them safe by preventing crime and attacking criminality, caring for victims, and protecting vulnerable people.

“We have just launched and are implementing Lincs 2030, which is our three-year transformation and investment plan for changing, improving, and modernising policing in Lincolnshire. We are confident this will deliver long-term positive change where it is needed because it provides clear direction, underpinned by investment in people, informed by the experiences of our workforce, and focused on delivering a stronger, more resilient service for the future.”

The four “remaining areas of concern” with Lincolnshire Police, as outlined by HMICFRS are:

• The force needs to attend calls for service in line with its published target attendance times.

• The force needs to improve how it allocates, supervises and carries out investigations to make sure victims get the support they need.

• The force needs to improve its understanding of demand.

• The force doesn’t have adequate strategic plans in place.

HMICFRS added: “In our December 2025 national child protection inspection, we issued two accelerated causes of concern:

• The force isn’t carrying out effective investigations when children are at risk of, or have been harmed by, criminal or sexual exploitation.

• The force doesn’t have enough trained and accredited officers to investigate child abuse and exploitation effectively.”