“IT'S ONLY £100 you know”.

The conversation took place last summer. The chairman of Lincolnshire Police Authority and the Chief Constable together with their finance directors were in my office in Westminster trying to persuade me to support an increase of £7 million in 2008-9 in Lincolnshire’s police budget – an increase of around 7% or between twice and three times the rate of inflation.

The £100 was a reference to the increase in council tax on a Band D property if the police authority got their way. I said I could not support them.

I have always thought that Lincolnshire is extremely well policed. Crime is falling. Our police enjoy the warm support and esteem of Lincolnshire people.

So why do I begrudge them their increase? Because I think every public authority must live within its means and it is the responsibility of elected representatives to ensure that it does.

Here is just a little arithmetic. The government have increased Lincolnshire’s police grant for 2008-9 by 3.1% - around £3 million. They may not repeat a special grant of £3.4 million they made last year. On that pessimistic assumption, Lincolnshire’s Constabulary’s basic financing needs should therefore be inflation – say a maximum 3% or around £3 million - plus the lost special grant (if it is lost) of £3.4 million minus the increase in the police grant. That equals £3.4 million, as against the £7 million the authority is seeking and is now likely to receive.

Lincolnshire Constabulary argue that they have been disadvantaged by the funding formula that the government uses, that they are therefore underfunded compared with other constabularies, and that under the formula itself they ought to be receiving £2.7 million more. I agree and I am certainly prepared to press this case on the government. But none of this is new – the same underfunding occurred last year and the year before and Lincolnshire had no deficit. These arguments cannot be used to justify council tax increases this year.

Increasing the police precept is I fear simply the easy option. The right reaction would instead be to look for economies which do not reduce the level of service. I have suggested several – not least using more specials, and replacing uniformed officers as they retire by civilians in back office jobs. (Lincolnshire makes much less use of civilians than other forces).

I have a final reason for taking a stand now. I have seen projections with equally egregious above-inflation increases, or even higher ones, in future years.

Unless stopped in its tracks I fear the police authority is about to form a very bad habit.