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This page contains press release 80/01, which discusses the need to find £30 million of savings to meet the Mayor of London's financial plan.

Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).

See the MOPC website for further information.

MPA submits police budget package to stay within Mayor's limits but must find £30 million savings

80/01
26 October 2001

The Metropolitan Police Authority today agreed to submit a package of budget measures to the Mayor which will meet his spending plans but result in savings of at least £30m being found.

MPA Chair, Toby Harris, said:

"The Police Authority recognises that to meet its unavoidable commitments for the next financial year, and stay within the funding envelope identified by the Mayor, it needs to identify £30m of savings before it considers additional demands.

"We view our proposals as realistic, but they result in a funding gap of around £30m. We have got to put in place the processes for trying to narrow that gap and ensure important services are not lost.

"In the longer term we will need to be even more rigorous in identifying efficiency savings and improving the Met's financial management, which in the past has been woefully inadequate."

The Authority agreed the following submission to the Mayor:

  • Inclusion of an inflation provision of £57.1m which reflects 3.5% pay awards;
  • Provisionally include all unavoidable expenditure increases, amounting to £69.3m;
  • Include a provision for additional officers either based on the Mayor's proposed figure of £22.7m, or the higher cost, to be agreed with the Mayor, of 1000 officers.
  • Identify the £30m savings required to fund the unavoidable elements within the Mayor's envelope, and to look for further savings which could fund other items recommended by the Finance Committee, totalling a further £21.3m.

The Authority's budget submission will total £2,120 million representing a net increase in expenditure of 5.8% with a precept increase as proposed by the Mayor amounting to 20 pence per week.

Proposals to achieve the required savings are to be reported to the Finance Committee on 26 November and then to the full Authority on 10 December, when Members will review the submission in the light of the Government grant settlement and any other relevant information.

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