Step Change Programme

Report: 09
Date: 20 November 2003
By: Commissioner

See also: supplementary report 9a

Summary

Whilst the 2004/05 revenue budget submission included a separate Part 5 describing the Step Change Programme (SCP), the cost detail is still in the final stages of development and will follow this report upon completion. This report is therefore submitted in order to up-date Members on progress and the course of events to meet the final submission to the Mayor.

A. Recommendation

1. That members note the progress to date of refining the cost base of the Step Change Programme Business Case for Growth and the next steps in order to meet the budget submission to the Mayor of London.

B. Supporting information

1. At the Finance Committee on 13 and 23 October, members considered the Part 5 budget submission which consisted of the following information:

• A description of the SCP, the governance arrangements approved by the MPA, and the process of formulating and approving the Business Case for Growth
• An Executive Summary of the Business Case for Growth
• Additional cost exemplifications requested by the SCP Steering Group when endorsing the Business Case for Growth.

2. At a Budget Steering Group with the Mayor on 25 September it was agreed to re-visit SCP costs as part of the review of the general budget proposals. To facilitate this and to enable the programme to move from strategic planning to planning for implementation from 1 April 2004, a revised set of planning assumptions was formally endorsed by MPS Management Board on 8 October 2003. These revised planning assumptions reflect the emerging consensus of the most likely officer growth scenario for the whole programme.

3. These agreed planning assumptions for 2004/05 and beyond have enabled:

• The allocation of police officer growth posts across and within business groups as an essential pre-requisite to business planning.
• Business groups to plan now for the impacts of growth from 1 April 2004, especially the impact of the new neighbourhood teams.
• Certain business groups to plan their support functions over long time periods e.g. Property Services, Directorate of Information etc. requiring consistent growth projections beyond 2004/05.
• The impacts of decisions on future changes to business plans to be more clearly articulated to the MPS Management Board and MPA at the point of decision because the full consequences of growth are being systematically mapped out.

4. Crucially, the revised planning assumptions have enabled a review of step change costs to be undertaken to comply with the request from the Mayor. As intimated above, the result of the cost revision exercise is near completion and details will be reported to the MPS Management Board as soon as possible before submission to MPA Finance Committee members.

5. The cost details will then be reported to the third and final Mayor’s Budget Steering Group on 24th November and will be included in the final review of the MPA budget submission at the full Authority meeting on 9 December.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The SCP is to have regard to the equal opportunity and diversity policies of the MPA and MPS at every stage.

D. Financial implications

The costs of the SCP in 2003/04 will be contained within existing budgets including an allocation from the Efficiency and Effectiveness review programme funding. A key element of the SCP Business Case for Growth is the financial implications of future expansion in police numbers.

E. Background papers

• Mayor’s Budget Guidance 2004/05
• SCP Programme Board minutes 9th September 2003
• SCP Steering Group minutes 18th September 2003
• SCP Business Case for Growth

F. Contact details

Report author: Simon Marshall, Step Change Programme Co-ordination Team, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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