Minutes

Minutes of the Resources and Productivity Sub-committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 13 June 2011 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Faith Boardman (Chair)
• John Biggs
• Valerie Brasse
• Amanda Sater
• Graham Speed (Vice Chair)

MPA officers

• Annabel Adams (Deputy Treasurer)
• Julie Norgrove (Director of Audit, Risk and Assurance)
• John Crompton (Treasury Team)

MPS officers

• Jane Bond (Director of Property Services)
• Sarah Brader (Head of Business Improvement)
• Anne McMeel (Director of Resources)
• Nick Rogers (Director of Finance Services)
• Lee Tribe (Director of Procurement Services)
• Matthew Punshon (Interim Head, Supplier Management) attended for consideration of agenda item 20

Also attended: Mark Horsfield from Arlingclose attended for consideration of agenda item 4.

98. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

99. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

100. Minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2011

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That subject to the inclusion of Valerie Brasse in the list of members attending, the minutes of the Resources and Productivity Sub-Committee held on 4 April 2011 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

101. Treasury management financial review

(Agenda item 4)

This report presented the Annual Review of Treasury Management for the 12 month period ended 31 March 2011 including an update for Quarter 4 2010/11.

Mark Horsfield from Arlingclose attended for consideration of this item.

Members commented that they considered that the investment income of £0.229m, although modest in historical terms, was reasonable in the current circumstances and was in line with expectations given the approved approach to exposure to risk.

In reply to a question from a member, the Director of Resources said that under the new arrangements the Chief Financial officer employed by the MOPC would have overall responsibility for the treasury management function but she anticipated that in practice the day to day operations would be carried out by MPS officers as was the case now.

There then followed a discussion on the possibility of Treasury Management being provided as a shared service within the GLA. The Director of Resources informed members that this had been considered previously but ruled out as an option.

Members asked that it be recorded that they were pleased with the overall position for the financial year.

Resolved – That the Finance and Resources Committee be advised that the recommendations should be supported.

102. Capital programme quarterly monitoring report – Quarter 4

(Agenda item 5)

This report provided members with information on the capital outurn for the financial year 2010/11.

In reply to a question on the slippage on the Language Programme, the Director of Finance Services advised the Programme was now in the delivery phase, and agreed to provide additional information on this and also other plant and expenditure which had a large underspend.

Members also raised concerns about the underspend within DoI and were informed that this was due in part to problems with procurement.

Resolved – That the quarter 4 outurn position of the Capital Expenditure.

103. Overtime costs

(Agenda item 6)

This report provided an analysis of the overtime paid to police officers, police staff and Police Community Support Officers during the quarter from 1 January to 31 March 2011 and a summary of the overtime position for the period to 31 March 2011.

In reply to a question on the effects which the new shift patterns in Territorial Policing might be having on overtime the Director of Resources said that this was something which would be relevant to the overtime data from the first quarter of 2011/12 onwards. However, it was her understanding that it was anticipated that the new patterns would reduce the need for overtime working. The Director also confirmed that the effects of new Operations within TP on overtime were being monitored.
Members requested that future reports provide some information on the impact on overtime from the implementation of the Major Change Programme.

Resolved – That the quarter 4 position for the overtime costs of police officers, police staff and Police Community Support Officers be noted.

104. Procurement strategy – action plan

(Agenda item 7)

The quarterly monitoring report on the MPA/MPS procurement strategy action plan was submitted.

Resolved – That

1. the update on progress as provided in Appendices 1 and 2 be noted; and
2. it be noted that further quarterly updates will be provided to the Sub-Committee.

105. Update on the implementation of early payment to Small and Medium Enterprises

(Agenda item 8)

This report updated members on the status of the actions in support of the Mayor’s initiative for early payment to Small and Medium Enterprises and the current payment profile for such suppliers

In response to a question about 2 way matching, the Director of Finance confirmed that they were looking at areas felt to be low risk where this could be implemented, however given the risks associated with this they wouldn’t be able to roll this out across all areas. Other functional bodies however have adopted 2 way matching and are therefore able to process a higher percentage of payments within 10 days. He also confirmed that the ambition remained to increase the percentage of invoices paid on time to 85% which was felt to be realistic given the volume of invoices processed and the need to have adequate controls in place.

Resolved – That

1. The actions taken to date to improve the time to make payment on undisputed invoices to SMEs with the ultimate aim being payment within 10 working days of the receipt of a valid invoice and the current payment profile for SMEs be noted.
2. The actions taken to resolve the problems encountered in January 2011 and the improved performance of invoices paid on time for February and March 2011 be noted.

106. Requests for contract action – management information

(Agenda item 9)

This report sets out the summary of requests for contract action received in Procurement Services within the last quarter (January 2011 to March 2011), with a particular focus on the requests that fall under the remit of Single Tender Actions (STA) and submitted via the associated form 1049. It also provide information on the number of requests for STAs against each of the legal exemption types and provides a summary of the number and value of those approved and declined.

Resolved – That

1. the summary contained within this report and attached appendices A and B (Exempt) of competed tenders received in the fourth quarter of 2010/11 and the control of single tender exemptions through Procurement Services and the MPA be noted; and
2. it be noted that further updates will continue to be provided to the Resources and Productivity Sub-Committee on a quarterly basis.

107. Routine Contracts Programme

(Agenda item 10)

This report sets out the latest version of the Routine Contracts Programme, providing members with detail on the contracts above £1m that the MPS wishes to let over the next twelve months on a rolling programme and also the details of those contracts let since the last report. The rolling programme covers routine renewals/re-tenders and all known new or emergent requirements.

Resolved – That the Finance and Resources Committee be advised that the recommendations should be supported.

108. Facilities management services – contract change

(Agenda item 11)

At its meeting in December 2010 the Finance and Resources Committee considered a report which outlined opportunities which had been identified to realign the two FMS contracts in use in the estate and supported further work in regard to the renegotiation of contract changes. A report was submitted which updated members on the progress made since then and proposed a number of contract changes to bring clarity and more flexibility to the existing contractual provisions to support the maintenance and repairs of the MPA’s estate.

Members supported the proposal and in line with the resolution of the Finance and Resources Committee on 16 December 2010, Resolved the report should be submitted to the Finance and Resources Committee for approval.

Accordingly, it was

Resolved – That the Finance and Resources Committee be advised that the recommendations should be supported.

109. MPS change programme update

(Agenda item 12)

An update was provided on the progress of the MPS change programme portfolio, which was formerly known as the Service Improvement Programme portfolio.

A member referred to the shared services initiative which was being pursued across the GLA family.

The Director of Resources confirmed that the MPS was actively involved in this initiative in particular in instances where there was a sound business case for considering entering into a shared arrangement. She did however have some concerns about whether the ambitious expectations of the programme could be realised. She then went on to say that she questioned whether the programme took sufficient account of the very different character of each part of the GLA family in terms of size, governance arrangements interdependencies, national remit etc. This could make it difficult to provide an accurate read across the different functional bodies which in turn could mean that the comparative costs of carrying out an activity were not strictly comparable and a distorted impression could be given.

In response to questions the Head of Business Improvement said that there had been some learning points in connection with the exiting of staff from the Directorate of information and its effect on the lean programme.

The Chair requested that (a) further information on the processes adopted for the early departure scheme is submitted to the HR & Remuneration Sub-Committee. Especially differences between the process adopted for phase 1 (where it appeared all requests had had been automatically accepted) and phase 2 onwards (where requests were not automatically accepted and instead follow a 2 stage process to determine whether they are accepted). (b) further detail on the training programme is submitted to the HR& Remuneration Sub-Committee (c) the next report included additional information on savings delivered in 2010/11 in comparison to what was budgeted.

Resolved – That the progress of the MPS change programme portfolio be noted.

110. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 13)

Resolved – That under section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved disclosure of exempt information as detailed in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the above Act.

Summary of decisions made on exempt items

111. Exempt appendix to capital programme quarterly monitoring report – quarter 4

(Agenda item 14)

Information noted.

112. Exempt appendices to procurement strategy action plan

(Agenda item 15)

Information noted.

113. Exempt appendices to requests for contract action – management information

(Agenda item 16)

Information noted.

114. Exempt appendices to Routine Contracts Programme

(Agenda item 17)

Information noted.

115. Exempt appendices to Facilities Management services – contract change

(Agenda item 18)

Information noted.

116. Quarterly update on variations to the Capgemini contract

(Agenda item 19)

Information relating to the projected contract value was noted.

117. Transfer of hard FM facilities at Empress State Building

(Agenda item 20)

Recommendations relating to the change of strategy for the provision of these services were adopted.

118. Exempt minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2011

(Agenda item 21)

Confirmed and signed.

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