Police property Act fund

Report: 5
Date: 20 April 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report on the Police Property Act Fund (PPAF) provides:

• A summary of the 2004-5 annual accounts;
• The position of the 2005-06 grant budget at 20 March 2006 and
• Proposals for the allocation of the 2006-07 grant budget.

A. Recommendations

Members are invited to:

1. Note the report on the 2004-05 annual accounts for the Police Property Act Fund;
2. Note the position of the grants budget at 20 March 2006;
3. Consider proposals for the allocation of the 2006-07 grants budget.

B. Supporting information

1. On 7 April 2005 the Finance Committee considered a report on the change in procedures from previous years and proposals for the disbursement of grants and administration of the Police Property Act Fund (PPAF) in 2005-06.

2. The Committee requested that a report on the annual accounts and a list of grants awarded during each financial year be submitted and that the basis for the allocation of funding be reviewed for 2006-7. In accordance with these requirements this paper:

• Reports on the 2004-5 annual accounts
• Reports on grants awarded during 2005-06 as at 20 March 2006
• Proposes arrangements for the allocation of the 2006-07 grants budget

Annual accounts

3. The paper on the PPAF considered by the Finance Committee on 7 April 2005 advised on a change to procedure. Detained monies (sums held by the MPS pending a decision as to ownership) were to be separated from sums appropriate to the PPAF. The accounts for 2004-05 recognise this arrangement.

4. A copy of the PPAF 2004-05 annual accounts has been submitted to the Treasurer in accordance with the requirements of the financial safeguards proposed by the Finance Committee. A summary of the income and expenditure accounts for 2004-05 is set out at Appendix 1 together with a summary balance sheet as at 31 March 2005.

Report on the PPAF grant budget 2005-06

5. The Finance Committee was advised at the meeting of 19 February 2004 that the PPAF had approximately £1 million available for distribution for charitable purposes. The meeting decided that half of this sum should be made available for disbursement in 2004-05 with the other half retained for future years (subject to review in spring 2005).

6. On 7 April 2005 the Finance Committee agreed a 2005-06 allocation of £200,000 in addition to the underspend of £104,018 from 2004-05 giving a total of £304,018 available to boroughs. Additionally £100,000 was made available for London-wide expenditure. At 20 March 2006 £239,371 of the borough allocation and £79,100 of the London-wide allocation had been spent.

7. A breakdown of the 2005-06 budget and details of awards made up to 20 March 2006 are attached at Appendices 2 and 3.

Proposals for the allocation of the grant budget 2006-07

8. Since the last report to the Finance Committee on 7 April 2005 there has been a decrease in income to the PPAF due to a significant fall in the amount and value of property available for disposal under the legislation. The MPS view is that income from sales is unlikely to match previous levels and that a prudent approach should be taken in setting the budget for grant allocations.

9. Appendix 2 shows an underspend of £64,647 against the Borough 2005-06 grant budget (this may reduce as last minute claims are submitted) and £20,900 against the Londonwide budget giving a total estimated underspend of £85,547. Boroughs have been advised that any 2005-06 underspend will be withdrawn and redistributed.

10. It is proposed that the unallocated funds of £200,000 plus the estimated 2005-06 underspend of £85,547 should be allocated over two years. It is suggested that for 2006-07 boroughs are allocated £100,000 and Londonwide projects allocated £40,000. This will leave an estimated £145,547 for 2007-08 plus additional funds that may become available (members are referred to paragraph 17 below).

11. Additionally at the 7 April 2005 meeting Finance Committee requested a review of the PPAF allocation formula. It is confirmed that this formula was established in 1998 and is based on Borough statistics for five variables with equal weighting:

• Population
• Unemployment level 16 to 24 year age range
• Deprivation factors
• Recorded offences
• Recorded offences 10 to 16 year age range

12. The data for each of these elements across the boroughs has been updated. Applying this latest data to a suggested allocation of £100,000 gives the results set out at Appendix 4. For comparison the Resource Allocation Formula (RAF), has also been included at Appendix 4. RAF comprises four separate aspects of policing to allocate police officers to boroughs:

• Demand. Workload based on crime reported.
• Need. The underlying requirement for policing allowing for social, environmental and deprivation factors.
• Opening the shop. Resources to ensure a borough is viable.
• Central London Allocation. Additional resources for the unique demands of central London policing.

13. The PPAF formula was devised specifically to underpin the specific aims and objectives of the PPAF. Grants are to assist victims of crime, assist those vulnerable to crime and to divert people, especially the young, away from crime. With the PPAF formula using age determined factors which are not present in RAF it is recommended that the updated PPAF formula (and not RAF) is used for 2006-07.

Summary

14. The MPS proposes for 2006-07 that:

• the estimated underspend of £85,547 is withdrawn and added to the sum available for future distribution
• the estimated underspend plus the £200,000 (of the original £1m) remaining for future allocation provides an estimated sum of £285,547
• of funds available £100,000 is allocated to boroughs and £40,000 to Londonwide
• the allocations to boroughs are based on the revised PPAF formula percentages as shown in Appendix 4
• boroughs are advised funds are available for 2006-07 and that any underspend will be withdrawn at year end for re-allocation in future years

15. It is also proposed that the criteria for awarding grants (agreed by the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 6 February 2004) and the administrative arrangements for the PPAF used for 2005-06 are again adopted for 2006-07 but with clarity about the statement that the MPS will not make “recurring grants or commitments to future years”. Boroughs have sought clarification of what constitutes a recurring grant particularly where the number of appropriate groups in a borough is limited. It is suggested that the guidance should read: “to ensure a varied distribution of awards the MPS will not usually pay a grant to an organisation for more than two consecutive years but recognises there may be occasions when appropriate opportunities are limited. In circumstances where a borough has difficulty in making varied awards the carry over of the allowance to the next financial year, or a further award to an organisation that has already received an award for two consecutive years, will be allowed but subject to approval by finance committee. Neither shall the MPS make a future commitment of an award to an organisation.”

Future years

16. Legal advice concerning the status of detained money has established that such money in police possession in excess of six years and in respect of which no claim has been received may safely be considered PPAF money. In the exercise to separate detained money from PPAF balances (referred to at paragraph 3 above) all sums detained prior to 31 March 1999 against which no claim had been made were classified as PPAF money.

17. From 1 April 2006 sums detained in the twelve months from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 can be reclassified. An exercise to identify these sums will be undertaken at the beginning of 2006-07 and repeated annually.

Abbreviations

PPAF

Police Property Act Fund

RAF

Resource Allocation Formula

C. Race and equality impact

Grants are awarded to organisations whose work encourages a positive relationship between police and a wide range of local communities covering the full range of diversity within the Metropolitan Police area.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications in relation to the Metropolitan Police Authority Fund. The financial implications for the Police Property Act Fund are addressed above.

E. Background papers

• Police Property Act Fund, Finance Committee 19 February 2004
• Co-ordination and Policing Committee 19 July 2004
• Finance Committee 7 April 2005

F. Contact details

Report author: Sharon Burd, Director of Finance Services, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback