Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Revenue and Capital Outturn 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner acknowledged that the variance figures in Table 3 of the report regarding savings were broad-brush, rounded figures to reflect the fact they were grounded in the Force’s base budget. Overall the Commissioner highlighted that the report demonstrated that to deliver savings, the Force had been carrying vacancies which had a knock-on effect on crime levels. Nevertheless, recruitment was now being scaled up to address this issue. ­­­­

·         The Treasurer noted the signif­­icant changes within the report ­­from Q3 reporting and noted that lessons would need to be learned and applied to future in-year reporting.

·         In response to a query from a Member regarding overtime costs for the Bank of England armed escort, the Commissioner replied that the Forced was achieving improved cost recovery from the Bank, and that increased overtime was the result of a number of trained officers being removed from armed duty whilst their roles in the response to 2019 London Bridge Stabbing and the resulting impact on operational availability of similarly trained officers.

·         The Chairman noted that the Reserves Policy was on the Board’s outstanding references list (PRM 2/2020/P) and that a report would be forthcoming in July 2020. He requested a similar item of work be conducted on the Force’s Action Know Fraud loan and capital funding mechanism, with a update being provided at a future meeting.

RESOLVED, that the repot be received.