Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Budget Monitoring Month Q1 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner noted that the Force was on track in terms of managing the ongoing vacancy factor and highlighted the £2.5m unfunded increase in Police Officer pension contributions. This £2.5m pension risk had the potential to increase further.

·         In response to a question regarding Accounts Receivable, the Commissioner replied that the reduction in Total Debtors as largely due to collection rather than write-off.

·         The Commissioner noted that he had briefed the Deputy Chairman of the Authority’s Finance Committee in person regarding both the £2.5m pension risk, and the emerging opportunity presented by the Home Office announcement for an additional 20,000 police officers across the UK.

·         The Deputy Chairman commented that future Monitoring reports should be more explicit in identifying risks and providing commentary on mitigations.

·         The Chairman of the Professional Standards and Integrity Committee noted that the Committee had considered the tribunal case regarding pensions at its recent meeting, the minutes of which would be submitted to the Board at its October 2019 meeting.

·         A Member commented that the table in appendix 1 of the report was in his view the best illustration of the overall budget position. The Member suggested some presentational changes to the table to improve it further.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.