Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee held on 14 November 2002 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present:

• Graham Tope (Chair)
• Nicholas Long (Deputy Chair)
• Reshard Auladin
• John Biggs (up to agenda item 11)
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Eric Ollerenshaw (up to agenda item 10)
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA staff:

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS staff:

• Stephen House (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Alan Croney (Director of Property Services)
• Mike Aston (C3i Programme Director)
• Steve Atherton (Director of Procurement)
• Mike Jennings (Director of Finance)
• Martin Chatfield (Head of Corporate Finance)

Part 1

76. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

No apologies were submitted.

77. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

78. Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2002

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2002 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

79. Chair and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

None.

80. Lead member roles

(Agenda item 5)

The Committee received a report which set out details of the lead member role for MPA members following consideration of the matter by the Co-ordinating and Policing Committee. The Committee was invited to submit any further nominations for approval by the Co-ordinating and Policing Committee.

Elizabeth Howlett asked that it be noted that she was no longer a lead member for independent custody visiting as shown in the schedule at appendix 1 of the report.

The Chair said he did not think it appropriate to create too many additional lead member roles as this might dilute the effectiveness of the committee system. He would suggest however that in addition to the lead member roles identified in appendix 1 to the report. Reshard Auladin should continue to be the lead member for IS and IT matters. The member indicated he would be pleased to be so nominated.

Members referred to the “job description” for the generic role of lead member listed at paragraph 3 and indicated that the “champion” role might not always be appropriate: members should also have the freedom to act in a scrutiny or questioning capacity where necessary.

Resolved - That

1. The basis of the lead member roles agreed by the Co-ordinating and Policing Committee be noted subject to it being recognised that the members concerned had the latitude where necessary to on occasion act in other than a champion capacity for the particular subject area.
2. The Co-ordinating and Policing Committee be advised that i) Elizabeth Howlett is no longer a lead member for Independent Custody Visiting and ii) Reshard Auladin is nominated as the lead member for IS/IT matters.
3. A revised version of appendix 2 to the reort be produced showing which member of the MPS Finance Department had lead responsibility for each item.

81. Draft budget submission 2003/04

(Agenda item 6)

A report was submitted on the final draft budget for 2002/04 which the Authority was required to submit to the Mayor the following day. It contained proposals for savings which had been put forward by the MPS Management Board following that meeting and which had been discussed at an informal member meeting held on 8 November.

The Committee also had before it a supplementary report agenda item 6a which set out an additional recommendation following the members informal discussion on 8 November. A revised appendix 1 was tabled which contained further information which had been requested at that informal discussion. The Chair said that as many members of the Finance Committee had been present at the informal discussion on 8 November he proposed to limit discussion to the recommendations flowing from that meeting.

The Committee proceeded to consider the tabled revised appendix 1.

Item 4 - the Director of Property Services said he believed a reduced figure of £500,000 for additional income to be more achievable than the figure shown originally as opportunities would also be sought to obtain income from advertising on MPA sites.

Item 5 - the Director of Property Services explained that the latest information showed that the rental income was more buoyant than had been thought and it would therefore not be necessary to increase rents above the level of inflation.

Item 10 - the Clerk explained that the savings figure of £200,000 shown was based on a 2% reduction in the whole budget of the Authority which contained many items where there was no flexibility to make a reduction without affecting the ability of the Authority to support members in carrying out their duties. A reduction of 2% in the reducible expenditure was proposed which would equate to £82,000. This was in line with the approach adopted by the MPS Management Board in identifying other savings. The savings would be taken from the staff budget and other budget headings.

In connection with item 3 Reshard Auladin said he had been very surprised to learn earlier in the week that KPMG had been awarded a substantial contract to carry out a piece of work for the MPS. There was concern that i) the work would appear to duplicate some existing work; ii) the contract had been awarded without going out to tender; iii) the incident could send out the wrong signals to the Borough OCUs and iv) there appeared to be confusion between departments as to which one would be paying for this contract and what pieces of work were being commissioned in general. This incident had led him to conclude that there could be scope for greater savings in this field.

The Treasurer advised that bearing in mind the revised lower figures for items 4 and 10 in the schedule of additional savings and by not including item 2 the further savings/additional income identified amounted to £8.632M and confirmed that this was within the range being sought.

Further to paragraph 14 the Treasurer advised that it was now anticipated that the announcement of the grant settlement would now be made on 5 December 2002 which was very close to the timetabled Authority and Finance Committee meetings.

The Committee agreed that in the event of a reduction in the overall budget the number of additional police officers would probably have to be reduced.

Arising from a short discussion on zero based budgeting regimes the Chair requested that a report on the subject be submitted to the budget sub-group.

Resolved (with Elizabeth Howlett and Eric Ollerenshaw asking that their dissent be recorded): That

1. That the list of savings options contained in the revised tabled appendix 1 be incorporated into the draft budget for 2003/04 with the following exceptions:

• Item 2 (civil staff) is not included.
• The saving on item 4 is reduced to £500,000 and includes income from advertising on MPA sites.
• The saving in item 10 is reduced to £82,000

2. An examination of possible further savings in the use of external consultants be carried out as part of any exercise necessary to identify further savings.

82. Treasury management half year review 2002/03

(Agenda item 7)

This report provided a review of treasury management for the 6 month period ended 30 September 2002 and reviews current developments.

Resolved - That

1. the report and the budgetary implications be noted.
2. Money market funds and the debt management account deposit facility be added to the list of approved investments.

83. Implementation of activity based costing in the MPS

(Agenda item 8)

The Home Office has indicated that it will require all police forces to provide
activity based costing data as part of the annual data requirement for 2003-04. A
report was submitted which explained the implications for implementing Activity Based Costing (ABC) in the MPS.

Referring to paragraph 13 The Treasurer said that the latest information he had seen indicated that the activity analysis would require a two week rather than three week analysis.

Resolved -That the report be noted.

84. Procurement of contact handling system for C3I

(Agenda item 9)

A report was submitted which sought authority to place a contract for the procurement of a Contact Handling System for C3i in accordance with the approved business plan.

Resolved- That

1. the placement of contract with Unisys to procure a contract handling system for C3i be authorised.

85. Public order/Territorial Support Group carrier vehicle replacement procurement strategy

(Agenda item 10)

A report was provided on the procurement strategy for the replacement of the MPS 210 strong fleet of public order / Territorial Support Group (TSG) carrier vehicles.

In reply to questions from a member the Director of Transport Services said that the level of comfort of the seating in the vehicles would be one of the matters to be considered in the contract process as would a rationalisation of the colour of the vans with that of police cars.

Resolved -That approval be given

1. to a Public Order/TSG carrier vehicle replacement plan based on an OJEC competition leading to an award of contract in late 2003/04.
2. a procurement strategy that will seek tenders for four options that will cover the full spectrum of vehicle fleet management arrangements which would not include a return to in-house maintenance.

86. Centralised MPS Traffic Criminal Justice Unit

(Agenda item 11)

A report was submitted which gave details of a proposed centralised Criminal Justice Unit to deal with all traffic prosecutions and anti-social behaviour tickets generated by police officers, traffic wardens and Police Community Support Officers attached to the Traffic and Transport Branch.

The Committee had also received a supplementary exempt report (agenda item 17) which set out the terms of the proposed lease of the accommodation at Marlowe House, Sidcup.

The Director of Property Services advised that the figures in the supplementary report were more up to date.

In reply to a question the Director of Property Services confirmed that the proposed new lease represented better value for the proposed use than using other floors which the Authority leased.

Resolved - (with John Biggs asking that his abstention be recorded) That:

1. agreement be given to the development of a centralised traffic and transport criminal justice unit.
2. a five year lease be taken for additional floor space at the existing MPS central driving Offences Unit, Marlowe House, Sidcup, Kent on the terms set out in the linked exempt report.

87. Business case for a Metropolitan Police Vehicle Recovery and Storage Service

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which informed the Committee of an-house vehicle recovery and storage service.

The Committee had also received a supplementary exempt report (agenda item 18 ) which set out the terms of the proposed lease of the Angerstein Centre, Charlton.

Resolved - That approval be given to -

1. The development of a cost effective in-house vehicle recovery and storage service, to support the core functions of the MPS.
2. In principle agreement to lease up to four car pounds, one each in south, west, east and north London, the annual rental costs being met from existing budget allocations, supplemented by income generations and savings.
3. The leasing of the first car pound at the Angerstein Centre, Charlton for a period of 10 years (less 1 day) on the terms set out in the linked exempt report.
4. The transfer of finance from revenue to capital expenditure to meet the fit out cost of the vehicle examination suite and storage facilities at Charlton.

88. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 13)

Resolved: That under section 100 A(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 paragraphs 8 and 9 of Schedule 12A to the above Act.

Part 2

Summary of decisions made on exempt items

Minute 89 agenda item 14 C3i contact handling system
Exempt information noted. See minute 65 for full decision.

Minute 90 agenda item 15 Future commercial strategy for forensic science
A strategy was agreed.

Minute 91 agenda item 16 exempt minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2002
The exempt minutes were confirmed and signed.

Minute 92 supplementary agenda item 17 Acquisition of a lease of 6th Floor, Marlowe House, Sidcup
Agreed to enter into a lease.

Minute 93 supplementary agenda item 18 Acquisition of a lease of the Angerstein Centre, Charlton
Agreed to enter into a lease

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