Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee held on 24 May 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present:

Members:

• Graham Tope (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Rachel Whittaker.

MPA staff:

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)
• David Riddle (Deputy Clerk) attended for agenda items 17 and 18.

MPS staff:

• DAC Richard Bryan
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Sharon Burd (Director of Finance)
• Alan Croney (Director of Property Services)
• Terry Price (Head of Corporate Finance)
• Jane Bond (Divisional Director Asset Management and Utilisation, Property Services)
• Chris Haselden (Head of H R Strategic Management)
• Chief Superintendent Mark Gore attended for agenda item 20.

Others

• Barry Coker (HMIC) attended for consideration of agenda item 11

Part 1

179. Apologies for Absence

(Agenda item 1)

There were none.

180. Declarations of Interests

(Agenda item 2)

There were none.

181. Minutes of the meeting held on the 22 April 2004

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2004 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

182. Chair and members' update

(Agenda item 4)

At the conclusion of the public part of the agenda the Chair paid tribute to the work of past and present members of the Committee, in particular Sir John Quinton who would be leaving the Authority, and Nicholas Long, who had recently left and who had been an excellent Deputy Chair of the Committee since it was established and who had given invaluable advice in his role as lead member on estate issues.

Rachel Whittaker said that in turn she also wished to thank Graham Tope for his service as Chair since the inception of the Authority.

183. Annual report of the Finance Committee

(Agenda item 5)

A report was submitted which summarised the work of the Finance Committee for the year 2003/04,

The Chair said that as the report was intended to summarise the work of the members it would be appropriate as this was the end of the current Authority to add a paragraph to thank the MPA and MPS staff for their work over the past four years.

Resolved – That the annual report be agreed as representing the Committee’s work over the last year for submission to the Authority.

184. Provisional revenue outturn 2003/04

(Agenda item 6)

A report was submitted which provided the latest information on the provisional revenue outturn position for the financial year 2003/04 and proposes transfers to various reserves. It also seeks approval to re-profile savings required for Police overtime under the PNB agreement given the failure to achieve the reductions needed in 2003/04

Members expressed some surprise that the outturn position was different to that reported at the last meeting and looked forward to receiving a full explanation at the next meeting.

Resolved  – That

1. the provisional £5.6m overspend at outturn (which is after transferring the managed underspend of £18.9m to reserves and before considering use of the net underspend on pensions) be noted;
2. it be noted that a review of the outturn will be reported to the Committee in July;
3. approval be given to the use of the net pensions underspending to a) maintain the 1% general reserve, b) provide for prudent earmarked reserves, c) set aside a provisional sum to support in 2004/05 the cost of police officers’ free rail travel, and d) increase the budget pressures contingency reserve, with the balance transferred to the pensions smoothing reserve; and
4. approval be given to the proposal to seek HMIC’s agreement to re-profile the savings in police overtime required under the PNB agreement.

185. Capital Programme Monitoring 2003/04 - Provisional Outturn

(Agenda item 7)

This report provided details of the provisional outturn position for capital expenditure during 2003/04 as recorded at 11 May 2004. It also gave an early indication of sums arising through project re-phasing that are required to be carried forward through reserves to be re-allocated during 2004/05. Approval for the eventual level of carry forward will be sought as part of the report on the final outturn due to be submitted to the next meeting.

Resolved  – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the adjusted budget figure of £179.286 M. be approved.

186. Financial management strategic prgramme

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted which sets out progress against the financial management strategic programme.

Members indicated that it was gratifying to see the progress made since the inception of the MPA although it was accepted that there were areas where there was scope for further improvement.

Resolved -That the progress against the financial management strategic programme be noted and that a new improvement programme for the next four years would be developed.

187. Treasury management financial review 2003/04

(Agenda item 9)

A report was submitted which presented the Annual Review of Treasury Management for the period ended 31 March 2004.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

188. MPS finance service restructure

(Agenda item 10)

This report outlined the pressures that have led to a review of the staffing structure of the Finance Service and sets out the revised structure that has been drawn up. There is a vacancy for a Head of Business Support and as it is considered that this is a post in which there should be Member representation in the recruitment process the Committee was invited to nominate a member to undertake this role.

Resolved - That

1. the revised structure of the Finance Service be noted; and
2. Reshard Auladin be nominated to participate in the recruitment process for the Head of Business Support.

189. MPS finance and resources inspection report by HMIC

(Agenda item 11)

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary was submitted setting out the findings and conclusions of a recent Finance and Resources inspection of the MPS which had focused particularly on estate management,

Barry Coker, the HMIC Financial and Resources adviser, attended for consideration of this item. Mr Coke outlined the findings of the recent inspection into Finance and Resources which showed that the MPS was now well set up in these areas to face future challenges in the areas reviewed. He also briefly outlined the future work programme of the HMIC with the MPS, which would include inspections of Activity Based Costing and procurement.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

190 Supply of temporary agency workers for clerical and telephony staff

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which described the formal competitive tendering exercise for the supply of agency workers for clerical and telephony staff and recommended that the MPA joins the Emergency Services Collaborative Framework Agreement.

Resolved - That the MPA join the established National Emergency Services Collaborative Agreement for the supply of clerical and telephony staff for a period of up to five years and Adecco UK limited be approved as the preferred managing agent.

191. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 13)

Reslolved - 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 7, 8 and 9 of Schedule 12A to the above Act.

Part 2

Summary of decision made on exempt items

Minute 192 agenda item 14 - Supply of temporary agency workers for clerical and telephony staff
The information was noted.

Minute 193 agenda item 15- Central London accommodation
Recommendations relating to the estate were agreed.

Minute 194 agenda item 16 Keyholder database
Latest information noted.

Minute 195 agenda item 17 Old Street
Oral report noted.

Minute 196 agenda item 18 Bow Street
Oral report noted.

Minute 197 agenda item 19 - exempt minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2004
The minutes were agreed and signed as a correct record.

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