HR Directorate budget allocation 2002/03

Report: 10
Date: 3 October 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

This paper provides information about the budget allocation to the HR Directorate for 2002/03, details of current expenditure for the year and workforce targets. It also refers to the additional bids for funding made in 2002/03 by the Directorate and the bids for growth in 2003/04.

A. Recommendation

That the Committee notes the paper.

B. Supporting information

Budget allocation 2002/03

1. The original budget allocation for HR Directorate for 2002-03 is £75.550m, excluding corporate pension budgets and following the transfer of free rail travel (£1,155k) and leadership training (£545k) to other Directorates. Appendix 1 shows how the budget has been broken down into allocations for the individual Directorates and for Holding Branch in the various cost categories. The allocation provides for police and civil staff in HR Directorate and their associated running costs and includes funding for those Service wide budgets administered by the Directorate on behalf of the MPS.

2. In terms of staffing costs, the Directorate is operating on a BWT that includes the additional police officer posts which have been allocated to the Directorate as part of the Mayor’s increase of 1,000 officers for this financial year. The agreed increase for HR Directorate was 141 and the budget was set on the assumption that 126 will arrive in 02/03 and the remainder in April 2003. The bulk of these posts are for additional trainers at Peel Centre in response to the increased number of recruits. A breakdown of the police and civil staff workforce targets is at Appendix 2.

3. The Servicewide budgets administered by HR Directorate are included in the cost category ‘employee expenditure’ at Appendix 1, the largest of these being the corporate recruitment budget in Selection Services, totalling £6.241 million. It also includes the pay and pensions contract £4 million, corporate external training £1.892 million and other associated staff budgets.

Current spend and forecast spend 2002/03 (excluding Holding Branch)

4. Appendix 1 shows the latest spend figure against each cost category. Currently we are showing an excess expenditure in the police pay category (and the associated housing rent allowances budget), which anticipates the arrival of additional police trainers at Peel Centre by the end of the year for which HR Directorate will be provided an additional budget allocation from the centrally-held fund for the extra 1000 officers. While new trainers are arriving at DTD, the pace of arrival is likely to be slower than originally assumed and as a result the projected level of spend is expected to reduce.

5. Also, civil staff pay is temporarily forecasting additional expenditure, which is largely due to the volume of temporary staff that have been taken on by Selection Directorate to deal with the additional selection and recruitment requirements associated with PCSOs, TfL, C3i and counter-terrorism. The HR Directorate has registered bids against the centrally-held funds for growth in 2002-03 and these will offset some of the additional costs of staff in these areas.

6. With refunds of police overtime expenditure also expected, the current forecast position expects to be balanced by the end of the year.

Current spend and forecast spend 2002/03 (Holding Branch)

7. Appendix 1 also shows the latest spend for those staff and functions that are budgeted for under Holding Branch. This includes the pay of recruits while at training school, the MPS officers seconded to National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service and those on attachments to other bodies both in the UK and abroad.

8. In the police pay category there is a current overspend forecast. This has occurred partly because the pay of recruits who have left the training school for Borough postings is still being recorded in Holding Branch. The mispostings have been identified and the adjustments are being processed. The pay costs of the officers will now be shown against the borough they have been posted to.

2003/04 budget

9. As part of the MPS budget development process for 2003/04, HR Directorate has identified the budget requirements associated with the increase in recruiting and training activities next year. These bids are additional to the step change costs identified for 2002/03. The step change costs include:

• an additional 20 police officer posts and vehicles for the driver training school
• an additional six instructors for the IT school and two IT coaches
• seven civil staff posts, which relate to the increased demand on training following the continuing rise in recruit numbers. 

A budget virement request has been proposed, which will move £1 million from Servicewide to police pay on a permanent basis.

10. The bid for 2003/04 covers the associated costs of the increased workforce, as well as the costs of recruiting more visible ethnic minority officers in 2003/04. A summary is at Appendix 3. The bids will be considered by Management Board in the context of other MPS demands and in the light of information about the expected budget allocation for the Service in 2003/04.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The Servicewide recruitment budgets will continue in 2003/04 to support recruitment, retention and employment programmes aimed at improving the proportion and progression of female and minority ethnic staff in the MPS. This report is principally about finance and it would be our intention to report individually on equality and diversity implications as more detailed and specific reports are prepared.

D. Financial implications

The financial implications are contained in the main body of this report.

E. Background papers

• MPA Budget Book 2002-03

F. Contact details

Report author: Mark Thomson, HR Business Manager.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 2: HR Directorate - workforce targets 2002/03

The civil staff target results from an adjustment in year to more closely reflect the civil staff pay budget forecast.

Appendix 3: 2003/04 growth bids

MTFP - additional officer growth; HR selection - future targets for police recruitment, including visible ethnic minority officers

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