Efficiency plan monitoring - as at final quarter 2009/10

Report: 8
Date: 17 June 2010
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides an update on the monitoring of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA)/Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) 2008/09 – 2010/11 Efficiency Plan. Overall, the outturn position indicates an over-achievement against the 2009/10 cumulative efficiency target (year 2 of the 3 year plan) by £1.9m.

A. Recommendations

Members are invited to: Note the cumulative position against the efficiency plan as at the end of 2009/10.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The MPS has a successful track record of delivering savings and has implemented a number of programmes and reviews to drive forward efficiency in the organisation. In the period 2001/02 to 2007/08, the organisation identified and delivered savings of more than £569m. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the monitoring of the MPA/MPS 2008/09 – 2010/11 Efficiency Plan as at the end of 2009/10.

Background

2. As part of their Annual Policing Plan, all police forces and authorities are required to identify efficiency savings and demonstrate that performance has been maintained or improved.

3. In the period 2005/06 – 2007/08, the Home Office required Police Forces to produce efficiency plans on a 3 year rolling basis. The savings target during this period was 3% of net revenue budget, of which a minimum of 1.5% was to be cashable. The Metropolitan Police Service successfully met the required target in each year.

4. Following the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Home Office issued a draft Efficiency and Productivity Strategy for the Police Service 2008 - 2011. The strategy resulted in the target for cashable savings being increased to 3% of gross revenue expenditure per annum, (previously 1.5% of net revenue expenditure), and an emphasis on the inclusion of an effective Efficiency Plan within the Police Authority’s Business Plans. Home Office guidance states that the value of the target is compounded, cumulative net cashable efficiency or productivity gains, worth 9.3% of 2007/08 Gross Revenue Expenditure, to be achieved by the end of 2010/11.

5. As part of the 2009 Budget announcement HM Treasury has increased the efficiency targets from 3% to 4%. HM Treasury has raised the overall three year savings target for police forces in England and Wales from 9.3% to 10.3% (based on gross revenue expenditure). To remain consistent with the national position, the MPA/MPS is therefore increasing the efficiency savings target to 10.3%. For the MPA/MPS, based on a 2007/08 outturn of £3,349m, the new total efficiency savings target over 3 years equates to £344.9m. Cumulatively the internal target set to be achieved by the end of year 2 (2009/10) of the 3 year target is £292.2m, which equates to 85% of the HM Treasury target. In previous years, savings have been reported as “cashable” or “non-cashable”. The Home Office definitions of these savings have now been broadened so that it is likely that all savings within the Efficiency Plan will be regarded as cashable.

Overall Position

6. Cumulatively, the total efficiency savings achieved at the end of 2009/10 (including 2008/09 actuals and the permitted surplus savings brought forward from 2007/08) are £294.1m. This is an over-achievement of £1.9m against the planned cumulative savings of £292.2m. Table 1 sets out the position. (Appendix 1 provides a more detailed breakdown of the Efficiency Savings position).

Table 1 – Cumulative Efficiency savings achieved during 2009/10

Efficiency savings variances

7. The main areas showing variances to the plan are:

1. Surplus cashable savings: where the amount carried over was greater than that anticipated when the plan was approved.
2. Budget build savings: in addition to the issues commented on in 2008/09, such as the implementation of Integrated Prosecution Teams within Territorial Policing and the review and restructure of the Finance & Resource function, the main area of under achievement in 2009/10 is in the Aid Fund due to an increase in activities associated with G20; Tamil protests and Climate Camp.
3. Additional savings were identified in 2008/09 which help offset the under achievement of some of the budget build savings. These include £5.0m on employer’s national insurance contributions; £4.4m on property rental costs; and a £3.0m increase as a result of the increased use of NSPIS for custody and case preparation.
4. Special Constables: measures have been taken to reduce wastage and to increase the number of hours that Special Constables will commit to the MPS. These measures have resolved the issues that led to savings in 2008/09 being less than expected. As a result of these measures there has been a favourable movement of £2.8m compared to the position as at the end of 2008/09.

Future years’ savings

8. In order to achieve the three-year savings target of £344.9m, additional income and savings of £100.5m have been identified as part of the 2010/11 budget build process that add to those already identified within the current Business Plan. In accordance with Home Office guidance £98.2m of this can be counted towards our Efficiency Plan. Additional savings have also been identified that are the result of better utilisation of existing resources. Appendix 2 provides details of the three-year Efficiency Plan as approved by the Authority at the Finance and Resources Committee on 18 March 2010.

Environmental implications

9. There are no direct environmental issues arising from this report.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no equality and diversity implications directly arising from this report.

D. Financial implications

The financial implications are those set out in this report.

E. Legal implications

1. The legal issues have been identified in the body of the report.

2. Improving efficiency and productivity by making better use of resources is increasingly becoming a core responsibility for all involved in policing. In future, this responsibility will be embedded in legislation, which will require the policing plan to include a Value for Money statement. Achieving value for money also forms part of the assessment carried out by the HMIC and Audit Commission in terms of the Comprehensive Area Assessment.

E. Background papers

• Policing London 2009-12 Business Plan.

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Nick Rogers, Director of Group Finance, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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