Report of the sub-committees of the Finance and Resources Committee

Report: 04
Date: 23 September 2010
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This report contains a summary of the business considered by the sub-committees of the Finance and Resources Committee.

A. Recommendations

That members note the report.

B. Supporting information

1. This report covers the following meetings:

• Estate Panel – 15 July and 13 September 2010
• Resources and Productivity sub-committee – 13 July 2010

Estate Panel

2. Amongst the matters discussed at the meeting on 15 July was the draft estate strategy. Following further development it was also considered at a special meeting held on 13 September. Members requested further amendments the Panel will reconsider the strategy on 23 September and the strategy in now due to be considered at the October meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee. At the meeting on 13 September the Panel also considered and approved the report on front counter facilities in Kingston which is on the agenda for today’s meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee. The Panel also considered a report on the transfer of a front counter in Havering and a report is due to be submitted to the 21 October meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee.

3. The next meeting of the Panel is on 23 September immediately following the Finance and Resources Committee. A visit to New Scotland Yard was made on 30 June and arrangements are to be made for a visit to other parts of the estate on 12 October.

Resources and Productivity sub-committee – 13 September 2010

None of the reports considered by the sub-committee are on the agenda for today’s FRC meeting.

Treasury Management quarterly report

4. The quarterly report advised that income on investments during the first quarter of the financial year was £0.189m at a return of 0.72%. Income and the rate of return achieved are slightly higher than the previous quarter even though cash balances have been lower at £104m compared with an average balance of £152m for 2009/10 (and last quarter 2009/10 of £120m) The sub-committee noted that the expansion of the counterparty list has achieved the objective of redirecting funds from the Debt Management Office to other sectors with opportunities to achieve a better return.

5. The 2010/11 estimated outturn for interest on investments is to budget at £0.8m. The 2010/11 estimated outturn for expenditure on the current debt portfolio of £166.4m is £6.7m, an emerging pressure of £2m against budget once a corresponding increase in Loan Charges Grant is allowed for. This is due to the scheduling of new loans with the full year cost having been recognised in future years but not the partial in year impact. Any additional borrowing during 2010/11 will add to this pressure. Options for dealing with this pressure are being examined as part of the wider review of the MPS budget

6. The report also contained an update on Landsbanki which advised that the first hearing of test cases in the Reykjavik District Court took place on 30 April 2010. This was a procedural hearing about how the case is to be conducted, rather than a hearing on the merits of local authorities’ claims. The Landsbanki winding up board has agreed to refer all the non-test cases to court, which should facilitate the earliest possible resolution of matters for all authorities with exposure to Landsbanki.

Capital programme monitoring 2010/11 quarter 1

7. This report provided members with information on the capital programme for 2010/11 as at the end of the first quarter of the financial year. the report advised that a first review of the capital programme for 2010/11 has been undertaken. This was to ensure that adjustments to expected expenditure could be made in respect of:

• projects that experienced slippage in delivery during 2009/10 and require unspent funds to be made available in 2010/11 and future years;
• projects that needed to have expenditure profiles amended to reflect changes in planned delivery; and
• any essential new schemes which needed to be added to the 2010/11 capital programme.

8. Provisioning departments were asked to identify if dedicated funding sources were available to finance any of these requested adjustments. This was especially important in respect of any new scheme(s) noted for inclusion within the capital programme of £309.6m. which was approved by the Finance and Resources Committee on 15 July. The sub-committee was advised that given the challenging financial position careful consideration will need to be given to ensuring that there will be sufficient revenue funds to support the implementation and in-service costs of all the schemes in the programme

Update on the implementation of early payment initiatives to SMEs

9. The sub-committee received its regular quarterly update on the status of the previously approved actions in support of the Mayor’s Early Payment to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Initiative and the current payment profile for such suppliers. Members noted that the figures for July showed performance at 77.9% (the figure in the report for the previous quarter was 77.2%) and that it remained the ambition to move beyond 80%.

10. Exchequer Services has commenced the implementation phase of the project to update the MPS invoice management system. This project is due to be completed by December 2010 and will provide a single more efficient payments system for the 30,000 invoices received each month by the MPS. Exchequer Services has also held meetings with different business groups with reviews of payment processes completed and improvement plans agreed. A further series of workshops with Finance and Resource managers has been scheduled.

Overtime 2001/11 quarter 1

11. The sub-committee received a report which provided an analysis of the overtime paid to police officers, police staff and PCSOs during the quarter to 30 June 21010. The report also gave details of the somewhat complex raft of terms and conditions relating to the payment of overtime and noted that these, particularly those relating to public holidays, restrict the ability for the police service to make significant further progress in reducing the total amount spent on overtime. The sub-committee asked that a report be commissioned for the Human Resources and Remuneration sub-committee which will explore these aspects further.

Award of contract for boarding up of properties and related services.

12. The contract is for a service to cover the provision of boarding up and related services following instances of police forced entry to premises/property and certain warrant supported or welfare related entries.

13. The sub-committee agreed the recommendation that approval be given to award the contract for three years, based upon a three year framework agreement put in place by Thames Valley Police. The total value for the full three years is estimated to be £5.55m. The award of this contract under the framework arrangements will replace the current service provided under the Facilities Management Services (FMS) contracts administered by Property Services Department.

Other reports considered

10. The sub-committee received the regular reports on i) the Procurement Strategy action plan update which included a separate appendix on the Key Performance Indicators for Responsible Procurement; ii) requests for contract action which set out the summary of requests for contract action received in Procurement Services within the last quarter; and iii), the quarterly update on variations to the Capgemini contract.

C. Other organisational & community implications

Equalities impact

1. There are no race and diversity impact issues directly arising from this report. Any implications are addressed in the reports considered at the sub-committee.

Met Forward

2. The remit of the Resources and Productivity sub-committee is largely in support of the Met Support strand, but there are no direct implications for the delivery of Met Forward arising from this report.

 Financial implications

3. There are no financial implications directly arising from this report.

Legal implications

4 Any implications are addressed in the reports considered at the sub-committee.

Environmental implications

5 Any implications are addressed in the reports considered at the sub-committee.

Risk implications

6 Any implications are addressed in the reports considered at the sub-committee.

D. Background papers

None

E. Contact details

Report author(s): John Crompton, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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