Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Deputy Chair Tijs Broeke, Alderman Professor Emma Edhem and Dawn Wright.

 There were no declarations made.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on 4^th of November 2022.

The Committee considered the public minutes and non-public summary of the previous meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on the 4th of November 2022.

RESOLVED- That the public minutes of the previous meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on the 4th of November 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner on the public actions from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Head of Internal Audit.

The Committee received a report of Head of Internal Audit which provided the Internal Audit Update.

The Chair asked the Head of Internal Audit for his impression of the culture of the Force with regard to financial control and compliance. In response to this query the Head of Internal Audit noted that he was not in a position to provide an accurate impression at this time however future internal audit reviews would consider this issue to ascertain the reasoning for any instances of non-compliance which provide an impression of the culture of Force with regard to compliance. It was added that Internal Audit enjoyed a strong working relationship with Force and that external inspections also considered these issues, which would highlight any specific reasons for concern. 

In response to a Member’s request Officers confirmed that regular meetings between the Head of Internal Audit, Chair and Deputy Chair of the Police Authority Board and the Chair of the Resources, Risk and Estates Committee would resume to provide an opportunity to discuss the priorities of future internal audits.

The Committee was informed of the processes for establishing the framework, consultation and methodology for completing the internal audit. Moreover, in response to a Member’s query it was confirmed that the procurement of specialist external audit services was considered and would be sought if it was considered necessary.

Following a Member’s concern Officers provided an update on the impact from staffing vacancies in the Internal Audit Team and confirmed that senior auditors were now in place to assist with the Police audit.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Force Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

Responding to a question from the Chair the Chief Finance Officer for the City of London Police commented that he was confident that there were strong controls in place for the management of the procurement of the Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting and Analysis Service but added that there was further work required with the management of smaller projects. In addition, he confirmed that the Force was committed to continued work to develop strategic support functions and maintaining the connection between the workforce plan and budget.

The Committee noted the need to engage broadly regarding the police funding formula as the City of London Police was at the lower end of the uplift.

Replying to a Member’s concern on the seventy five percent vacancies in the Change Portfolio Team, it was confirmed that this is being progressed as part of the Corporate Services Review. Officers confirmed that progress of this review against agreed timelines was being actively managed. In addition it was confirmed that a report with proposals following the Corporate Services Review would be presented to the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Q3 Revenue & Capital Budget Monitoring, 2022/23.

The Chair commented on the need to manage the impact of the police uplift on the budget and the issue of wide variances. Members also commented on the need to monitor Overtime in the coming quarter and Officers confirmed that they were looking at other drivers that could potentially skew the budget as a result of overtime. A deep dive on this was being presented to the Force’s Strategic Finance Board it was noted.

The Committee debated the property costs listed in the reported and questioned whether it was correct that these come from Force’s budget. The Chair noted that the Operational and Projects Sub-Committee had commissioned a review of all of the Corporation’s operational property policy. The Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee confirmed that the Committee was committed to ensuring that the correct property cost would be attributed to the correct budget.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Provisional Revenue and Capital Budget 2023/24.

In response to Member’s concern Officers confirmed that the staff vacancies were not being held to balance the budget but were the result of the natural turnover and vacancy rate. Members were supportive of the removal of the officer vacancy.

Officers confirmed that returns on Proceeds of Crime Act funds could be unpredictable owing to the nature of seizures. Members noted that Officers had given assurances at Economic and Cyber Crime Committee that there would be return on investment in relation to asset recovery resources being recruited and updates would be confirmed to Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted. 

Report of the Commissioner and Police Authority Treasurer.

To be read in conjunction with non-public appendices at Item 20.

The Board received a report of the PA Treasurer and the Commissioner on the City of London Police Income Strategy, including fees and charges 2023/24.

In response to the Chair’s query it was confirmed that the Strategic Finance Board decided on the default charging position.

The Police Authority Board Chair observed that there needed to be consistency on reporting to assist Members to focus on strategy and partnership funding. Following this Officers confirmed that the Income Strategy would address these concerns going forward. However, it was noted that this Strategy followed national guidance.

The Committee noted that the key risk regarding income was that the Home Office annual grant provided in flat cash would represent real terms cut when factoring in inflation.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner Q3 Workforce Monitoring Report 2022-23.

Responding to the Chair’s question Officers explained that areas with large over establishment was due to the Officer induction process where newly recruited officers all served in certain sections before being allocated to other specialism.

RESOLVED- That the report.

At this time the Committee became inquorate, and those Members present agreed to consider the remaining items informally.

Report of the Commissioner.

To be read in conjunction with non-public appendices at Item 21.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an update on the City of London Police Risk Register.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

There were no questions in the public session.

There was no urgent business considered in the public session.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED, That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on 4^th of November 2022.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the previous meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on the 4th of November 2022.

RESOLVED- That consideration of the public minutes of the previous meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on the 4th of November 2022 be deferred.  

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner on the outstanding references from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided a deep dive on Force Risk 06 & 07.

RESOLVED- That the report be deferred.

The Commissioner to be heard.

The Committee received an oral update from the Commissioner on the Rail Delivery Group Contract.

RESOLVED- That the update be noted.

Joint report of the Commissioner and City Surveyor.

The Committee received a joint report of the Commissioner and City Surveyor on the Future Police Estate Portfolio Update.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with Item 9.

The Committee received the non-public appendices on the City of London Police Income Strategy.

RESOLVED- That the appendices be noted.

Non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with Item 11.

The Committee received the non-public appendices on the City of London Police Risk Register Update.

RESOLVED- That the appendices be noted.

There were no questions considered in the non-public session.

There was no urgent business considered in the non-public session.