Contents
Information about the MPA's budget process.
Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).
See the MOPC website for further information.
Who is involved in the budget process?
Metropolitan Police Authority
The MPA has overall responsibility for the budget of the MPS. The Authority scrutinises and considers each year’s budget, with reference to ‘affordability’ and how the budget fits with the Authority’s priorities and taking into account the Mayor’s priorities. It then recommends a budget submission to the Mayor; the submission highlights how the MPA budget fits with the Annual Policing Plan and Mayoral policies, priorities and strategies.
A key responsibility of the Authority is budgetary control – budget monitoring reports are submitted to the Authority on a regular basis as it is important that the Authority is aware of variations in actual or anticipated spend against the approved budget, together with proposals for remedial action if under or overspends are anticipated.
Metropolitan Police Service
the MPS draws up a detailed budget submission, drawing on the work undertaken for the medium term financial plan to identify future commitments, known savings or areas of reduction and highlighting new initiatives.
The Commissioner
responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the budget is delegated to the Commissioner by the Authority.
Mayor
The the Mayor submits the GLA Group budget, including the MPA budget, to the Assembly for consideration and approval. At the beginning of the budget setting process the Mayor indicates what will be taken into account in the calculation of the precept (level of council tax) and this, together with assumptions about the level of grants, is what the MPA budget submission calculations are based upon.
The Mayor is responsible for consulting with the community on the GLA Group budget before it is submitted to the Greater London Assembly.
GLA
Greater London Assembly – the Assembly scrutinises the Mayor’s budget submission and makes a final decision on the level of the budget, and therefore the level of the precept, for the GLA Group.
The budget process – who does what and when?
| Who? | What? | When? |
|---|---|---|
| MPS | Review of the previous year’s actual expenditure | Apr – Jun |
| MPS | Review and roll forward of the medium term financial projection (assessment of expenditure over 4 years) | Apr – Jul |
| MPA | MPA scrutiny and consideration of the draft budget | Jun-early Nov |
| MPA | Approval of the draft budget for submission to the Mayor | early November |
| MPA | Submission of the MPA budget to the Mayor | mid November |
| Government | Announcement of revenue support grant distribution | Late Nov /early Dec |
| Mayor | Statutory consultation on the draft consolidated budget for the GLA Group | December |
| Mayor | Mayor submits initial proposals to the Assembly for consideration | January |
| Mayor | Mayor submits final proposals to the Assembly | Mid-February |
| GLA | Final Assembly consideration of the budget | Mid-February |
| MPA | The MPA makes decisions in relation to budget management | February |
| MPS | Allocation of budget to Business Groups and Boroughs | February |
| MPS | Publication of the MPA Budget Book | March |
| MPA | Monitoring of performance against the budget – to-date position and forecasted end of year position | Ongoing |
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