Agenda item

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner of Police

[This report was not available at the time of publication and will be circulated separately]

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner that provided Members with an overview of the year-end financial position of the City of London Police at Q3.

The Commissioner explained that there was a comprehensive workforce plan in place but conceded that predicting numbers of staff exiting to other Forces remained a challenge.

A Member asked for clarification of whether the repayments from the National Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (NCTPHQ) referenced in paragraph five were received or not.  The Commissioner confirmed that the payments were indeed received, but were awaiting clearance.

A Member asked for confirmation that the confidential report mentioned in the table in Appendix 1 had been submitted to the Police Committee.  It was confirmed that this was submitted to Members in 2017.

A Member explained that it would be useful to have a document that illustrated how Police funding is calculated between the Chamberlain’s department and the City of London Police, including the allocation of grants.  He noted that it was often the case that elements of the budget appeared to come as a surprise.

A Member asked the Chamberlain if the Local Authority accounts were accounted on an accruals basis or a cash basis, and the Chamberlain confirmed that the Finance team were recording on an accruals basis.

The Chamberlain explained that if there was an underspend leading to an additional contribution to the general reserve this year, then this could be used in the following year.  He explained that the resilience of the Police finance function remained a concern and illustrated that there was a lack of confidence in the figures.  The Chairman noted his comments and stated that the lack of confidence was concerning.

The Commissioner explained that the CoLP would welcome increased transparency on their budgets in written form.  The Chairman requested that a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner be submitted to the Committee that provides a clear and detailed explanation of the allocation and accounting of Police budgets. (3)

The Chamberlain confirmed that a report will be submitted to the Committee in April on the plans to achieve the proposed cashable transformation savings of £1.2m for 2018/19. (4)

The Chairman requested clarification on POCA funding, noting in the report that some funds had been allocating to staffing.  The Commissioner explained that a dip in POCA funding was predicted, with the £0.9m in reserves already having been allocated, but that this would be followed by an increase as current plans for alternative revenue streams come into effect.  The Chairman also noted that it had been agreed that 10% of POCA funding would now be allocated to the Safer City Partnership.

A Member queried the negative “7” reported in Table 1 of the report, under “Central Budgets”.  The Commissioner explained that this was due to a sequencing issue involving grants received from the Home Office, and that the negative figure was accounted to a lag in grant funding due to be received in Q4.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.