Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Budget Monitoring Quarter 3 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         In response to a query, the Chief Operating and Finance Officer noted that a deep dive on non-pay items had been conducted and a summary could be provided outside of the meeting.

·         A Member noted that the Performance and Resource Management Committee had not been able to scrutinise the pay items in the budget to an appropriate degree – the Committee would at its future meetings conduct a similar exercise on non-pay items.

·         The Commissioner noted that the Chief Operating and Finance Officer, who was relatively new in post, had rebuilt the budget for 2020/21 which would provide Members with greater oversight of pay and non-pay items. He asked Members to bear in mind that the Force had at points over the past financial year been carrying up to 100 vacancies.

·         A Member welcomed the spending rate analysis set out within the report.

·         A Member expressed concern that the vacancy rate was highest in crime and uniform policing – key areas in the City of London Policing Plan.

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner replied that it was unlikely that the Force would be reimbursed by the Home Office for any cost items above 1% of the Force’s budget. He agreed to clarify outside of the meeting whether this was per policing event, or an aggregate figure for the financial year.

·         A Member commented that an issue such as this – Home Office reimbursement – was one to be factored into the Force and Authority’s emerging corporate engagement.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.