Budget devolution within the Metropolitan Police Service

Report: 13
Date: 27 September 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report gives an overview of the current financial devolution position within the Metropolitan Police Service. 

A. Recommendation

That members note the contents of this paper.

B. Supporting information

Overview

1. Budget devolution means passing control and therefore accountability for budgets from centrally held departments to Operational Command Units (OCUs). Currently about 20% of all budgets are devolved.

2. Since 1 September 2002 seven ‘pathfinder’ sites – Bromley, Barnet, Camden, Lewisham, Sutton, Hackney, and Serious and Organised Crime (SO7) have had control of additional budgets. These are police pay, linguistics, forensic medical examiners (FMEs) and utilities and cleaning. This has resulted in the pathfinder OCUs having control of 80% of their budgets. 

3. Money saved from one budget can, subject to the ‘Scheme of Financial Devolution’, be spent elsewhere. Where budgets are either under or overspent, up to 200k or 2% whichever is lower, can be carried over to the following financial year. ‘Savings’ may however be withheld subject to organisational needs. This would be considered in the context of the MPA/MPS overall position.

4. The MPS has resisted ‘hot-housing’ pathfinder boroughs. The Director of Resources is examining the staffing levels in pathfinder finance and resource units.

5. The MPS Consultancy Group will evaluate the pathfinders. They will report to the Budget Devolution Project Board. The findings from the evaluation will assist in deciding when and if budget devolution, in its current form, is rolled-out to the remainder of the MPS.

Police pay

6. OCUs below their Budgeted Workforce Targets (BWT) can retain the pay allocation but must attempt to maintain staff numbers. They are not to keep numbers artificially low.

7. OCUs can change their BWT but must submit a business case to Management Board. Lewisham are civilianising 35 office based police posts. Because of the cost difference between police and civil staff posts they can now afford to ‘purchase’ an additional 8.5 police officers who will be deployed into visible uniform patrol.

8. The Operational Policing Measure (OPM) is used currently at pathfinder sites to gauge the percentage of officers and Civil Staff on visible uniform patrol, not just the overall numbers. As the Computer Aided Resource Management (CARM) system is rolled out across the MPS, the OPM will provide data over increasingly large areas. The importance of this measure has been heavily emphasised by the MPS Management Board and at a high level within the MPA and GLA.

Linguistics

9. There is scope for more effective use of linguists / translators. This is evident from the disparity in ‘spend’ by comparable BOCUs. Increased management and accountability will lead to more efficient systems for: - cost recovery; the use of telephone based linguistic services, and; a case by case decision making process regarding the use of interpreters. 

Forensic medical examiners 

10. Improved software will monitor cost recovery from organisations such as the Home Office Immigration Service, British Transport Police, and the Royal Parks Police. There is scope for more efficient use of FMEs through local policies and a detailed risk assessment by custody officers. 

Cleaning and utilities

11. There is scope for more efficient use of the utilities budget through local policies. The main advantage will be in achieving required standards of service by controlling payment of cost locally.

12. High Level Overview

These are in addition to budget headings already devolved such as civil staff pay and police overtime. 

C. Equality and diversity implications

Localised control of diverse budgets increases accountability, the actions and recommendations in this report support equality and diversity. Devolved budgets and the OPM are proportionate tools for monitoring, evaluating, and accounting. They are an ethical measure, for which OCU commanders will be accountable. It is necessary to introduce these systems to improve effective control.

D. Financial implications

1. Devolution encourages better control and offers financial benefits and accountability. The outcomes for budget devolution will not be clear before the evaluation takes place. Devolution may lead to increased costs in some areas, due to the loss of economies of scale. This may be balanced out by increased efficiency due to improved management. Because OCUs are still able to spend their total budget it is likely that devolution will not produce cashable savings.

2. The evaluation process referred to at B(5) above will include an assessment of the corporate financial impact of extending each element of devolved budgets beyond pathfinders. Given the political sensitivity around Police Pay, particular attention will be given to this area to ensure the tensions between growth and devolution do not lead to significant adverse financial implications for the future.

E. Background papers

• None

F. Contact details

Report author: Chief Superintendent Ian Thomas, PRS12 New Scotland Yard, room 812.

For more information contact:

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

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