Meeting documents

The report will be presented by Cllr McCracken, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group.

As in previous years, the Thames Valley Police & Crime Panel formed a Budget Task & Finish Group to assist in discharging its statutory duty to scrutinise the Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley’s proposed council tax precept for 2018/19. Cllr McCracken, the Chairman of the Budget Task and Finish Group presented the report. He thanked Ian Thompson and Linda Waters for attending the Group and updating Members on the PCC’s draft budget proposals and also Members of the Group for their work.

The Chairman particularly referred to the following points:-

•        Precept increase flexibility of up to an additional £12 (Band D equivalent) for all PCCs (or equivalents) in 2018/19

•        Flat cash grant funding i.e. the same allocations as in 2017/18 for Home Office Core Police Settlement, Ex-Department for Communities and Local Government, and Legacy Council Tax

•        The Home Office has stated that grant will be maintained at current cash levels in 2019/20 and PCCs will be allowed to raise their Band D precept by £12 for two years subject to national targets on efficiency and productivity being met. No information is provided for grant in 2020/21 and later years; the working assumption is that grant will remain flat, and council tax precept will revert to a 2% increase in year three. The national review of the police funding formula has been ‘parked’ for the time being and is not likely to be introduced until after the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

•        There were concerns about the level of reserves at the end of year 3.

•        There were concerns regarding the clarity around number of police officers bearing in mind that 50 posts were not being reduced as planned due to the Local Policing model, there was an increase of 47 police officers but a reduction of 46 police staff and an additional 95 case investigators. The Chairman asked that no Local Police Area should be disadvantaged for loss of police officers and that they were redeployed as necessary.

•        The EmergencyServicesNetworkgovernment project has fallen an estimated 15 months behind schedule. This delay means that forces may need to extend their Airwave contracts, which is likely to have associated costs in addition to the delayed savings from ESN. An OPCC paper circulated earlier in the year estimated the cost of a 12 month delay at £400m. It is not yet clear how these additional costs will be met and by whom. The PCC responded that ESN was a real worry and that 15 months delay could still increase and that this issue had been taken up with senior civil servants.

•        Reference was made to the cost of £35 million for the Head of Commonwealth Conference. The PCC reported that this cost was being picked up by the Metropolitan Police.

A recommendation had been put forward which was debated during the next item as follows:-

That the Panel approve the Police and Crime Commissioner’s precept for 2018/19 as set out in the OPCC report ‘Revenue Estimates 2018/19 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2019/20 to 2020/21’ subject to satisfactory responses to the questions raised and any other supplementary questions asked at the Panel meeting on 2 February 2018.